The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire
by Sarrlo
Summary: For the first time in years, William Hume is lost. But if there's anything the Terminus Systems can force you to learn, it's how to pull yourself back together or die trying. /Volume 4 of the Red Moon Collection\
1. Chapter 1

******Disclaimer**

While this story contains all original characters the universe is entirely the property of EA and Bioware.

* * *

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 1**

_**Undocumented Mining Facility, Kamarov, Pamyat System**_

Will stumbled forward and down the ramp in front of him as a harsh shove was thrown into his back. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself before falling into the prisoner in front of him and the line of others a dozen long. He was last off the ship and into the musty, hot cave inside which Janson's ship had landed a few moments earlier. Will looked up to see the shimmer of an atmospheric barrier. They had landed in what appeared to be a large crater that was partly excavated and lined with the markings of a significant mining operation. His shoulders pulled down on him as the planet's heavy gravity began to strain his joints, but he wasn't about to complain to his captors and give them the satisfaction of knowing his discomfort. The line of poorly dressed and malnourished people trailed along ahead of them as two of the Blue Suns on Janson's crew led the group toward a large, slanted door on the wall of the crater. Will glanced over his shoulder briefly to see Janson walking behind him, gun in hand and a wicked stare in his eyes.

"Might want to take another look at the sky," Janson taunted. "It'll be the last time you see it."

"We'll see about that," Will muttered as he turned his eyes forward.

The Blue Suns commander laughed at the perceived absurdity. "Keep thinking that." He took in a satisfied breath. "You and the RMC have been a fucking annoyance the past few months. Thankfully, I found just the place for you."

Will could hear at least one of the enslaved abductees in front of him sobbing as the doors opened and the Blue Suns guided the pack inside. Just through the doors stood a half-dozen armed guards, all watching the incoming shipment of labor with stoic eyes. Will did his best to calm himself as he stepped over the threshold into the enormous airlock and continued to scan his surroundings with constant vigilance. The facility's main entrance was a cavern forcibly carved out below the surface of the crater with a few large prefab buildings scattered around at the center. At least five wide tunnel entrances could be seen on the walls of the cavern, all leading down to where Will assumed the real work took place. As he pulled his eyes away from the prefab units and distant, hanging spotlights, he took another look around the cavern and noticed something rather unsettling: he could see no other slaves. The Blue Suns had led them to another five of the facility's guards, but other than them, there was no one to be seen.

"Order was for fifteen," a gruff batarian voice called out from the five guards.

Janson stepped past Will to meet the batarian as he swiftly made his way toward the back of the line. The Blue Suns commander nodded once.

"I'm aware."

"We only agreed to _pay_ for fifteen," the batarian reiterated. "You'd better not be expecting-"

Janson raised a hand to silence the objection. "No extra payment, just think of it as a bonus for the both of us. I need this prick to get what's coming to him."

Will gave an exaggerated snort and roll of his. "The _irony_ of that statement coming from you..."

The Blue Suns commander turned and lunged toward Will, slamming his fist into his stomach. With his hands secured behind his back, Will dropped to his knees and gasped for air. It had been a while since he had taken a hard hit like that without his armor. Janson looked back to the batarian and motioned over his shoulder toward Will.

"There's nothing wrong with him. Just pissed me off quite a bit," he explained.

The batarian eyed Will for a short moment before nodding. "Very well." He looked down the line. "The others look to be in decent shape. We'll get them into processing to confirm there are no complications."

"And the payment?" Janson asked impatiently.

"It'll come after the processing, like always," the batarian muttered. "Get 'em inside!" He shouted to the other guards.

* * *

"Any skills?"

Will shook his head. "What?"

The armed batarian bared his teeth. "Are you deaf? I asked if you have any skills!"

"Pretty sure deafness would have shown up on that medical scan," Will countered bitterly.

"Answer the fucking question," the guard snapped as he placed his hand by the pistol on his belt.

Will gritted his teeth and rolled his shoulders in discomfort. His hands had been locked together behind his back for at least eight hours now and his joints were begging to be set free.

"What kind of skills? What the hell kind of question _is_ that?" Will grumbled. "I thought I was _slave labor._"

"Can you operate machinery?" The batarian barked irritably.

"Yeah, of course," Will answered indignantly. "Who the hell can't?"

The batarian growled and walked around the chair where Will sat. Behind him, Will could hear the batarian retrieve something from a row of lockers on the wall, only to jump as something cold wrapped around his neck. He quickly realized it was some sort of collar as it clasped together and adjusted to be skin-tight. A few seconds later, much to his relief, he felt the band holding his wrists together become loose as the batarian pull it off.

"Thank god," Will said with an exasperated sigh. He reached up and touched the collar. "Not sure I like this any better, though."

"Get used to it," the batarian said tauntingly. "It's not coming off."

The batarian returned to the front of the chair and ordered him up. Will stood and rolled his shoulders once again, thankful for the movement he was now allowed.

"You'll follow your commands or be punished," the batarian instructed.

He raised his omnitool and tapped a few buttons. Will shouted in pain as an intense shock emitted from the collar and into his neck, causing him to fall to the ground and writhe in pain.

"That was the lowest setting. Just a taste. Now get out." A door opened on the far side of the room. "Your group is waiting to be distributed."

Will panted as he righted himself and pushed his body to his hands and knees. With a groan of pain he was able to stand and stumble toward the door. He passed into a short hallway and out another door that opened from the prefab into the cavern where the others he had arrived with stood in five groups of three. Two guards immediately seized him as he stepped through the door and guided him toward the far-right. Will managed to focus his eyes long enough to see the batarian foreman and Janson shaking hands before the Blue Suns began their walk back to the exit. Janson glanced over his shoulder as he made his way toward his ship and caught Will's eye, giving him a teasing wave as he laughed and turned ahead.

The groups were quickly assigned a pair of armed guards for each and ordered to march toward their designated tunnel in the cavern walls. Will looked over his shoulder to the prisoner behind him and frowned softly. The woman was muttering something under her breath and nodding her head slowly and reassuringly. Will wasn't sure if she was repeating the same thing, or muttering incoherently.

"Keep your eyes forward," the rear guard ordered.

Will complied and clenched his fists to subdue his anger. He closed his eyes and took in a deep, calming breath as he remembered the past few days. He hoped beyond hope that what he had done had been worth it. That Shansa and Eleena had gotten away. That Cerberus had given up its chase. He shuddered involuntarily and opened his eyes once again. As far as he was concerned, this was the best outcome he could have hoped for after being picked up by Janson and the Blue Suns. Will had expected to be expected and dumped out the airlock, but instead he was given a chance. Janson had made a big fucking mistake.

The tunnel they walked down was dim, with at least half of the lights either off or dead. The smell of new gasses filled the air and a distant, unsettling rumble grew more intense the further they traveled. After a two or three minute walk, the descending tunnel leveled out and opened into another cavern. It was smaller than the main entrance, but still had a few large prefab structures lining one wall as well as two more tunnels that branched off on opposite walls. The biggest difference between this cavern and the entrance, however, was the fact that dozens of haggard workers appeared to be shuffling about. Some were walking in a line toward one of the prefabs while the others stood along what looked like a large conveyor belt, sorting through chunks of stone that were being continuously poured from a hopper at one end.

"Grab gloves from the bin and get on the line," one of the batarian guards ordered to the group of new arrivals. "Pull out the blue rocks."

Will reluctantly shuffled toward the conveyor belt as his eyes continued to scan his surroundings for even the smallest window of opportunity. He counted at five armed guards in the room and at least twenty other workers, some of whom wore some kind of armored hardsuit. Will made a note of this as he approached a bin of thick, black gloves and grabbed a pair to slide onto his hands. He stared at the ground as he walked toward the conveyor belt, his mind trying desperately to concentrate. He had very suddenly become dead tired. As he made is way to the long, slow conveyor belt he could see that lined beside it were troughs filled with heaps of blue, jagged stone. At least twenty people were lined up along the sides, scanning, grabbing and setting aside the wanted material while the rest was left to pour off the end and into an enormous refuse bin on a hover-cart. Will stepped up beside a particularly haggard looking man and gave him a sideways glance. The turned his eyes weakly toward Will, then looked back down to his work. Will sighed and looked own the belt and grabbed a small chunk of the blue material before tossing it into the trough beside him.

"So what is this crap?" Will asked.

The older man responded slowly. "We can't talk while working."

"Who do you think is gonna stop us?" Will said with a small laugh. "You think those five guards give a shit about us talking to each other?"

The man did not respond. Will shook his head and turned his attention fully to the task at hand.

"Whatever. This day better go by fast."

* * *

After fourteen hours of labor, Will and the other workers were rounded up and delivered to one of the prefab buildings in the small cavern. Inside he found rows of tables and chairs at the center of the room and a series of dispensers on one wall. He watched some of the others as they scurried to the dispensers and retrieved a rather small nutrient bar and cheap water mug before heading to the nearest table. Will quickly did the same as his stomach ached desperately for food. He found himself a seat at one of the tables on the furthest side of the room and began devouring the nutrient bar ravenously. The water in his mug had a disgusting brown tint, but he gladly gulped down every drop, having been worked to the point of near dehydration. Will looked up as an unexpected movement caught his eye: another man had come to stand on the opposite side of the table, staring down at him. He had long and ragged black hair and brown eyes that were nearly as dark looking Will up and down critically.

"You need something?" Will asked with a voice beyond the point of exhaustion.

The man continued to look him over closely as he sat down. "I imagine you've seen better days, my friend," he spoke in a voice wrapped with a thick Latino accent.

Will smirked at the man who was clearly covered in more than a few scrapes and bruises. "I'd guess the same for you."

He nodded softly and downed a large sip of his water. "So you can use your eyes," he mused cynically. "Shame they didn't keep you out of here."

Will narrowed his eyes curiously. "Who are you?"

"José Moore," the man answered, extending a hand. "And you?"

"Name's Will. William Hume." He accepted the hand and shook once.

"Hmm." The man continued to eye Will closely. "You're a new arrival, no?"

"That's right," Will said with an annoyed sigh. "And boy am I glad to be here," he grumbled sarcastically.

José raised a brow curiously. "You don't know much about this place, do you?" He shook his head. "I suspect you wouldn't be making jokes if you were aware of how fortunate we really are."

Will turned his eyes back to the man and snorted. "Fortunate?"

"Yes," José replied definitively. "How long do you think I've been here, Mister Hume?"

Will nearly corrected him with the title "Captain," but caught himself just before speaking.

"You can call me Will." He looked the man up and down. "Given your condition and the average life expectancy of slave mining labor in the Terminus Systems? I'd say two months."

José chuckled softly. "And that is why we are lucky." He took a bite from his nutrient bar and swallowed with a satisfied sigh. "I arrived almost eight months ago."

Will raised his brows in surprise. "Eight months?"

"That's right," he assured him. "This installation extracts a mineral called Morrosium. It requires a specific set of circumstances to be extracted properly, and a set of tools to go with it." José took another bite and washed the gray foodstuff down with water. "It's dangerous, though. Lots of gasses that can kill you before you even know what's wrong, if you're not careful. So, they work us to the edge of breaking, but not over. It would be far too time consuming to burn through their labor and train newcomers every couple of days."

"I'm no slaver, but that seems pretty stupid," Will muttered quietly.

"The tools require you to know what you're doing, but are not hard to comprehend," José countered. "And to hire professionals would cost far more in terms of hazard pay."

Will shrugged. "I guess. I still don't think that means we're _lucky._ Just means we'll be worked longer before they decide we're not worth keeping alive."

José took a quick swig of water. "Or die in an explosion."

Will paused for a moment, unsure as to whether or not José was speaking jokingly or not. As his expression remain stoic and grim, Will cleared his throat and chalked it up to harsh reality.

"So you're telling me that whoever runs this place is sticking complex tools in the hands of slaves and expecting work to be done?" Will asked.

José nodded. "That's right. And if you don't cooperate..."

He raised his chin and pointed to the collar on his neck. Will reached up and touched the metal of his own with an angry grumble.

"So we work the mining lasers, explore the caves, operate the extraction beams, and if you're new," José looked down and exhaled angrily through his nostrils, "or near the end of your usefulness, the conveyor belt."

"Yeah, I'm acquainted with it."

Will slowly looked around the room to the dozens of tired workers as José consumed the last few bites of his nutrient bar.

"So what kind of lasers and beams are we talking about?" Will asked as he turned his attention back to the man. "How much... damage do you think they could do?"

José clearly the read the intention in Will's words. He looked around the room before motioning for Will to rise. Will looked to him curiously, but obliged as José rose to his feet and nodded toward a door on the far end of the room.

"Come, I should show you the bunk quarters," José said distractedly.

Slightly confused, Will obliged. José led the two of them to the far door and into another room roughly the same size as their mess hall. The room was filled with dirty, unkempt bunks packed together in tight rows for the sake of efficiency. José quickly made his way to the back corner and pointed toward a few beds along one of the walls while glancing over his shoulder to speak to Will.

"These beds are empty," José informed him. "They were... recently vacated."

With a bitter frown, Will nodded and walked to the closest of the beds. José turned and scanned the room, taking note of who might be in earshot before turning back to Will.

"I believe I picked correctly when I sat with you," he said in a hushed tone. "Why do you want to know these things about our equipment? About the... 'damage they can do?'"

Will lowered his voice in return. "I'm not staying around here until I die," he said matter-of-factly.

"You are a soldier?" He asked hopefully.

"Not exactly," Will answered with a small smile. "Just a merc. But I can hold my own."

José shook his head. "I am not one to judge, my friend. I was an Alliance soldier for some time, but after too many years of inaction I left for a PMC. However..." He looked to the side. "Well, let's just say I probably should have stayed with the Alliance."

Will nodded slowly. "So those tools?"

"Yes, of course." His new acquaintance said, shaking his head in irritation of his digression. "The lasers are exactly what they sound like and can be tuned to very high power. We use them to bore further into the tunnels. The extraction beams would not be of much help. They are nothing more than small mass effect field generators that lift and separate the minerals we are mining."

"A modified mass effect field generator is more useful than you might think," Will said quietly. "Put it in the right place and you can throw a guard or two into the ceiling."

José nodded slowly in consideration. "Yes, very good." He glanced over his shoulder briefly. "Wait here for a moment," he asked.

Will crossed his arms and watched as José hurried off to the other side of the room where a door had opened to allow a small group of workers inside. The man approached one person in the group, an asari, and motioned for her to follow him. She agreed without hesitation and the two quickly made their way back to where Will stood waiting.

"There is a small group of us who have begun making plans the past few months. Plans to do the things you have suggested," José began as the pair returned. "This is Orassa Dalsori. She was one of the first to show interest in this action. Orassa, this is William Hume."

The deep-blue skinned asari stepped forward and extended a hand in greeting with her head bowed. She looked more aged than most asari Will had met, but he wasn't sure if it was just because of the working conditions. Will reached forward and gave a friendly shake as she opened her eyes and turned her gaze up to him.

"Hello, William Hume," she said in a soft and reserved voice. "I am glad to meet you, though I wish it could be under better circumstances."

Will chuckled. "You and me both."

José cleared his throat to interject. "She and I have been discussing our attempt at escape for some time now."

"Yes, we have many ideas," Orassa continued. "But we will need others to help us. We have just recently begun to reach out."

"You don't even have to ask," Will assured them. "If there's anything I can do to help with the planning, I'm more than willing."

"Then we will share our thoughts soon," José said with a nod. "But now, we are taking up precious minutes of our rest hours."

Will nodded slowly. "I'd rather discuss everything after I've gotten a chance to see the rest for myself. So far this place seems ripe for a breakout," he pointed out. "They're practically begging for some disobedience."

"I agree." José said as he stretched his arms and neck. "But yes, we should discuss this later. You will need your rest for tomorrow as I am sure you will be sent to the mines."

With a heavy sigh, Will dropped down onto the cot he had chosen. "Can't wait."

Orassa looked down with a small smile. "Be cautious and patient, and you will make it through the day," she advised him.

"Survive," Will summarized. "I can do that."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 2**

_**Undocumented Mining Facility, Kamarov, Pamyat System**_

"Watch your head!"

Will held his breath after yelling his warning. He reached out helplessly as the salarian he had attempted to warn could do nothing but look up to the ceiling of the tunnel with wide eyes as rocks came pouring down onto him. Will threw his scanner aside and ran toward the collapse with another worker just behind him. The two of them dropped to their knees as the reached the settling rubble and began hurling rocks away as quickly as they possibly could. Will was wearing no gloves today due to his job assignment of filling the collection bin, and a few shards of uneven stone were quick to cut through his skin as he dug frantically into the pile. The fellow slave beside him removed the rock that finally revealed the salarian. His blue skin was already discolored and bruised from the blunt trauma sustained by several large chunks of stone striking him as they fell. The salarian's eyes were wide open, motionless and dead.

"Son of a bitch," Will muttered under his breath. "Do you have comm privileges?" He asked while turning to the man beside him.

It had only been two weeks since Will's arrival, and he still did not know the name of everyone in his sector. The man shook his head and motioned over his shoulder.

"I... I think someone back up at the junction does," he answered.

"Run tell them what happened," Will ordered, hoping he didn't mind the demand.

He apparently did not, as the man turned and ran back up the tunnel, looking back over his shoulder briefly to the dead salarian once more. Will let out a deep sigh and dropped from a kneeling to sitting position. This was only his fifth shift in the mines and his first in the deep tunnels, but he was already starting to wonder how José had managed to survive as long as he did. This was the first day since he had arrived that he, José and Orassa would finish their shifts at the same time, and he was counting the minutes. They _would_ get out.

"Just be patient," he whispered to himself as he tore his eyes away from the salarian's body.

* * *

Will struggled to keep his eyes open as he shuffled into the worker's quarters. He made his away to the ration dispenser and retrieved his nightly meal before turning to the rows of tables and feeling a slight sense of relief as he spotted José and Orassa waiting patiently in the far corner of the room. Will nodded to each of them as he came to sit at the end of the table. He took a long gulp of his water and sighed tiredly.

"You lost someone in your group today, yes?" José asked almost immediately.

"Yeah," Will answered as he swallowed the water. "Noldin, I think. The salarian."

Orassa frowned deeply. "Noldin was a pleasant man. He deserved better."

"We all do," José bitterly corrected her.

The trio fell silent and looked down to their food. Will picked up his nutrient bar and took a small bite, barely keeping down the bitter substance. After a few minutes had passed José cleared his throat to draw their attention back.

"You've had two weeks now, Will. What do you think so far about our chances?" José raised a brow.

Will nodded. "It doesn't look like sneaking out is going to be an option," he began. "As far as I'm concerned, a full-fledged breakout is the only thing that's going to give us a chance at getting out alive."

"I agree," José concurred. "But that won't easy. I'm fairly certain these collars are locators as well, so I'm not especially keen on any risky recon before we know for certain. "

"I think our most significant advantage is right here next to us," Will said as he looked over to Orassa. "I've seen a few other asari in our zone. You're all naturally biotic, right?"

The asari smiled softly and nodded. "Yes, that's correct. But we are fitted with special collars that can detect close-range mass effect field fluctuations, such as those exerted when performing biotic tasks. Upon detection..." She rubbed her neck softly. "The shock is not gentle."

Will shook his head. "Don't half of the tools down here use mass effect fields?"

"Yes," she answered with a regretful frown. "Which can lead to many false positives."

"Then what we need is some way to get to the control mechanism for the collars," Will suggested.

José took a small sip of his water. "That is one course of action. But it would be incredibly dangerous."

"You have any others in mind?" Will asked.

Orassa nodded. "Yes, the other option we have discussed is that of sending some kind of message. If we could find a way to signal our presence, perhaps a passing ship could find and relay it to the proper authorities."

"Which would be the safer alternative," José continued. "Unfortunately, it relies on quite a few variables outside our control. We may not be in a system with regular or even sporadic ship travel."

Will smirked as he swallowed another bite. "And if we did get in touch with someone, there's a fine chance that they'd be just another group of slavers."

"So we have no other options?" Orassa asked. "A full-on assault or hoping that our message in a bottle reaches those who can help us?"

Will and Orassa turned to José. He looked down to the table between them as he considered the question and shook his head slowly.

"It is... hard to say at this point," he finally replied. "I think first we should see how many others we might be able to pull into our plans."

"Strength in numbers, right?" Will said with a grin.

José nodded. "That is my hope."

"In that case, I'll keep an eye out for any potential help while I'm working," Will said. "I'm practically a professional at spotting troublemakers."

Orassa chuckled softly. "Almost a professional?"

Will smirked. "I have trouble calling my work the past two years or so 'professional.'"

"You were a mercenary," José recalled. "What line of work were you involved with?"

"I know this is going to sound like I'm trying to cover my ass, but I was actually part of a group called the Red Moon Collective. We focused on helping people who were down on their luck." Will laughed lightly. "Well, that's what we liked to tell ourselves. In reality, we just fucked up gangs for their supplies or because they had pissed off someone rich enough to pay us to do it. It's easier to justify stealing and killing when you're motivated out of some sense of righteousness." He looked up to the others. "Not that the people we targeted didn't deserve it, of course. Our hosts here are a prime example."

Orassa and José shared an amused look. Will had to admit, the concept did sound either far too idealistic to believe or fabricated to earn their trust. He hoped it hadn't come off as either.

"I'm surprised you lasted even a few months with an occupation like that," Orassa admitted as she looked back to Will. "I would have feared every gang in the Terminus Systems had I been in that position."

"They certainly weren't fans of our work," Will admitted. "That's pretty much the reason I'm here. I got spaced, nearly died, then got picked up by a passing ship. A Blue Suns ship."

José raised a brow. "Spaced?"

Will nodded in affirmation. "I was the captain of a ship. I used it to ram a frigate that was chasing us." He took a small breath. "I'd gotten careless, felt like we were unstoppable, and led my crew into a situation that nearly got all of us killed." Will averted his eyes momentarily. "One of them _did_ get killed. At least, one that I know of. The only thing that I'm still holding onto is the hope that they all made it to safety and the people chasing them are gone."

Orassa smiled softly. "Well, hopefully they are safe and looking for you."

"They are. I _know_ they are," Will replied. "But I don't know what good it'll do. That Blue Suns ship flew in and picked me up long before they could have made it to Omega and back." He looked to each of them with grim determination. "Which is why I'm breaking myself out of here. No amount of searching can make up for a dead-end."

José nodded solemnly. "It is good to see you are motivated."

"You could say that," Will smirked. "How about you, José? You said you were Alliance, right?"

"Was Alliance, yes. I was discharged a few years ago because I was sick of our colonies being left in the cold by our military," José explained. "I joined a PMC that was contracted to a few of those on the border of the Traverse. We fended off nearly a dozen raids over the course of two years, but all it takes is one bad situation to make it all go to hell."

"What happened?" Will asked, eager for him to continue.

"Outnumbered, plain and simple. Almost everyone in my squad was killed while the colonists and I were taken as prisoners." José held up his hands. "And here I am."

Orassa placed a comforting hand on José's arm. "It took three weeks for him to come out of the shell of seclusion he had retreated to. I was the first person he spoke to after his capture. Even so, the words were merely those of apology for accidentally bumping into me in the mess hall." She smiled warmly. "After that he was quick to open up."

"So you've been here a long time?" Will asked the asari. "Longer than José?"

"Certainly," she answered. "Nearly twice as long, I believe."

Will shook his head. "Damn. How'd you get here?"

Orassa's lips fell slightly into a small frown. "Simply unfortunate circumstances. You see, I was the celestial cartographer on an independent exploratory expedition. Our most important work was cataloging dormant mass relays, which of course took us to many uninhabited and potentially dangerous systems. We stopped at a frontier fuel depot and were ambushed by batarian slavers."

"Bastards," Will muttered angrily. "Did you fight back?"

"Of course," Orassa said with a small laugh. "But we were not soldiers. It was a small vessel with a security team of three. The worst part is, I was less than a year from stepping down from the position," Orassa added with a sigh. "Had I done so earlier..."

"Why step down?" Will asked curiously.

The asari shook her head. "I was tired of being bothered by my family. 'You should not have to do this work at your age,' they would say. But no one was _forcing_ the work upon me. I enjoyed it!"

Will held up a finger, asking her to pause momentarily. "How old are you?"

"Eight hundred and seventeen," Orassa answered.

"Wouldn't that make you a matriarch?" Will asked, slightly confused.

She waved a hand dismissively. "Perhaps according to a calendar alone. But the stages of life are far more complex than just an asari's age."

Will nodded understandingly. "I'm surprised they had the balls to enslave an almost-matriarch."

"It's hard to be afraid of the consequences when no one will even know of your crimes," Orassa reminded him. "For all I know, my daughters believe my ship is lost in deep space or destroyed in a solar storm."

José, who had been simply listening to the conversation, cleared his throat and leaned forward. "I don't mean to rush, but we have limited time and should discuss our course of action."

"No, you're right," Will agreed as he tapped the table with his finger. "I think we need to do two things: continue looking for others who are willing to help, and carefully search for any and all weakness that we can exploit."

"This would be a wise choice," Orassa agreed. "We should not attempt anything without very careful and precise consideration and planning."

The trio nodded in agreement.

"Then we will meet again when our shifts align," José declared. "Now let's get some rest."

Will let out a deep breath of relief. There was nothing he wanted more.

* * *

"Any luck?" Eleena asked quietly.

Shansa stared intently at the admittedly low-fidelity scanners that were installed on the transport shuttle. She swallowed hard and shook her head.

"Nothing," the pilot answered, her voice raspy from lack of sleep.

Eleena lowered her head. "Run the path again."

Shansa hesitated a moment before replying. "Eleena... it's been days. The debris has drifted so much and we've found no signs of life."

It was the first time since their return to the accident site that either had objected to the search, but each of them could tell that the other had been thinking the same thing.

"Then we can at least recover his body," Eleena argued under her breath.

"A collision at space-faring speeds doesn't leave much intact." Shansa let out a weak sigh. "There might not be anything left to-"

"Just run the path again," Eleena ordered slowly.

Shansa turned the shuttle back around and approached the mass relay to begin their searching pattern once again. Suddenly, the a flash of light streaked by the body of the relay as a ship dropped out of FTL. Eleena and Shansa quickly turned their attention to the vessel.

"No immediate IFF signal," Eleena informed Shansa.

"It's coming around," Shansa stated. "Course currently... on intercept."

The ship was blasting toward them at high speeds using its sub-light thrusters. Shansa brought her hands to the controls, only to find them locked.

"_It's getting a lock on us!"_ Eleena shouted frantically.

Missiles streaked forward from the attacking ship, Cerberus logo emblazoned on the flanks. Will watched in utter terror as the attack struck Eleena and Shansa's shuttle dead on, vaporizing it an explosion of gasses and twisted metal.

Will gasped desperately for air as he shot up to a sitting position on his cot, his heart pounding body shaking in fear. He looked around the dim room to see others stirring from the noise and brought a hand up to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Oh, god."

Will muttered as he turned and placed his feet on the floor. He placed his face in his palms and took deep, calming breaths in an attempt to force reason upon himself.

"They're fine. They're fine," he repeated to himself, still shaking the image of his nightmare.

He sat on the edge of his bed for a few minutes before finally opening his eyes and looking to see the rest of the room had returned to their precious sleep. Will looked to those close by and briefly wondered what had brought them here. He would ask them tomorrow, he decided. Will took one last deep breath before pulling his legs up and settling back onto the cot with his eyes staring to the ceiling. Eventually, they sank shut as exhaustion claimed his consciousness once again.

* * *

Over the next month, Will was assigned to use the full gamut of the facility's tools. He found them relatively easy to handle, as he expected they would be, and was assigned to a drilling team for his next round of shifts. This gave him the opportunity to truly test the potential usefulness of their equipment during any kind of escape attempt. Unfortunately, he soon came to the conclusion that no matter what their plan, their biggest and seemingly insurmountable hurdle would be the one piece of equipment that they would always have with them: their collars. Each day he grew the slightest bit more anxious and impatient, and he was worried what he might do if they did not find a weakness to exploit.

"How far?" Will shouted over the sound of his drill.

He squinted involuntarily as dust billowed from the contact point while his drill slowly burrowed into the wall. Will felt a slight sense of bitter remembrance as he held the tool, as it was operated almost the same way Kallux's cannon was: held with two hands to the side of one's body. He shook his head and pushed the thought from his mind before looking over his shoulder.

"I said how far?" He repeated through the muffled mic on his mask.

The scanner for his team, a turian named Lannus, was staring at the tool in his hands intently. "It says the pocket starts about two feet in."

Will glanced down to the panel on his drill to see that he still had three inches to go according to the depth reading. He held his finger on the trigger and continued to apply pressure to the guidance handle, pushing further into the wall. After a minute of constant drilling, an alert buzzed from the drill's interface to indicate he had reached his desired depth.

"Lannus, sample coming out," he reported.

The turian set the scanner down and knelt beside the drill. Will flipped a switch on the top of the machine, causing the drill to hum softly before sliding open a hatch on its side. Inside, a clear, cylindrical tube filled with samples from the rock wall was held between two prongs. Lannus plucked the glass-enclosed, compacted dust from the dispenser and nodded to Will.

"Got it, looks clean."

Will set the drill down with a grunt and reached over to grab the tube from the turian's hand. He stepped back to get in the direct beam of their work-light and pulled his mask from his face to get a clearer look.

"There we go," he said to himself. "Two feet, perfect."

He shifted his eyes to the middle of the sample and raised a brow at a yellowish powder he had not seen in any previous drilling. Halfway through the sampling process the sensor on his drill had malfunctioned causing the depth-reader to return a value of null. With just the slightest hint of suspicion, he looked over his shoulder to the turian and nodded toward the device in his hand.

"Hand me the scanner," Will asked to Lannus.

With the scanner in hand, Will switched to the micro settings and held the device close the tube. As he ran from the end of the tube toward the yellow material, the screen flickered and died. Will stood almost motionless and tapped the tool once or twice as his eyes shifted between the dead screen and the yellow portion of the mineral sample. His eyes widened ever so slightly as Lannus reached out his hand as an offer to take the tool back.

"I think the charge died," the turian muttered. "I've got the backup here."

Will returned the first scanner and waited until the backup tool was placed in his hand. He activated the tool and set it to the same settings before executing an identical scan, only to have the tool die once again upon reaching close proximity with the yellow dust. He felt his heart jump in excitement as his initial suspicion appeared to be confirmed.

"These things are crap," Lannus muttered irritably.

"Yeah, yeah. They are," Will agreed.

Lannus clearly had not noticed the correlation, and until Will considered him trustworthy, he would not be pointing it out. Will cleared his throat and nodded as he subtly slid the sample tube into his pocket.

"Get the extractor ready, I think this spot is good to go," he declared.

Six hours later, Will and the rest of his team emerged from the mining shaft and into their hub. He hurried to the tool depot and checked in the drill before making his way to the mess hall, hoping either José or Orassa would be there. They were not. He collected and consumed his daily rations before retiring to the bunkroom, where he caught sight of José sitting on his cot and strapping on his boots. Will meandered through the maze of beds to reach him, finally coming to a stop in front of his friend's cot with his arms crossed. José glanced upward and eyed Will curiously.

"Will," he acknowledged.

"Shift starting?" Will inquired.

José nodded as he stood up. "Yes."

Will quickly glanced around the room. It appeared as though he had made it in before the majority of his shift had finished their meal. José also seemed to be the first to rise from his group, most likely pure instinct from his military days.

"José, I think I might have found something that can help us."

The man did his best to conceal his curiosity. "That being?"

Will reached into his pocket and pulled the sample tube out to hold it between them. "The yellow mineral. It was doing something to our equipment. I think it might have some kind of electromagnetic properties."

José narrowed his eyes. "Please, elaborate."

"It was messing with the depth sensor on my drill, and it seems like it completely fried our two scanners," Will explained. "I think this might be the break we need."

"I've seen this substance before," José said as he examined the tube. "But never this much in one extraction. What are you suggesting we do with it?"

Will's eyes darted to the left and right. Upon seeing no one watching them, he held the tube up to the front of his collar where a blinking green light beside two buttons indicated its connection. After a mere second, the blinking light ceased, leaving José to raise his brows in surprise. Will shoved the sample back into his pocket and crossed his arms, attempting to look as nonchalant as possible.

"What the hell are you doing?" José demanded.

"We need to know what happens," Will answered.

José narrowed his eyes. "They will know your collar has shut off!" He was clearly trying his best to hush himself.

A few seconds later, a door on the far side of the room slid open for a pair of armed guards who came hustling into the room.

"Everyone stay right where you are!" The first guard barked.

Sleeping workers began to rouse from their much-needed slumber and look around the room in confusion as the two guards made their way toward the corner where Will and José stood. One of the two guards looked down at his omnitool and nodded to the other, pointing directly ahead. Will breathed as steadily as he could and watched as they approached.

"It's this one," the batarian guard said in a voice far louder than necessary.

The guard grabbed Will by the arm and forced him to face the two of them while nodding to himself. "Yep, light's out."

"What's the problem?" Will asked.

"Shut up," the second guard snapped.

The first shook his head. "Emitter died. Turn," he ordered to Will.

Will rolled his eyes and spun to face his back to them. He gritted his teeth and hoped that he was not about to be treated to a bullet to the head. The guard reached up with his omnitool and disabled the electronic lock on the back of the collar allowing it to fall to the floor. Will breathed in sharply at the unexpected and indescribable feeling of having his throat freed from the constant and unrelenting grip of the slave collar. He closed his eyes for a moment and concealed his smile as he basked in the first pleasure he had experienced since he had arrived at the facility over a month and a half ago.

"We've got some spares in the tool depot," the first guard said to the other. "Go grab it while I keep an eye on this one." He gave Will's back a firm shove. "Face me."

Will wiped the happiness from his face and turned back to the armored batarian with his best tired and defeated frown.

"What did you do to this thing?" The guard asked as he kicked the collar on the floor.

"I didn't do a damn thing," Will answered weakly. "I was just talking to my friend."

The batarian snarled angrily. "Cheap piece of crap."

A few seconds later, the guard who had left made his way back to the three of them with a new collar in hand. Will sighed and turned his back to them when prompted, allowing the collar to be snapped back into place around his neck and tightened. The green light began to blink softly on his throat. The guards took a quick look at their omnitool readings of the emitter strength and, once satisfied, turned to leave the room. José, who had been waiting patiently during the entire exchange, grinned to Will once their captors had left.

"This is better than we could have dreamed of," he pointed out quietly.

Will nodded in agreement. "Looks like it feeds them an alert when the transmission stops. Seems like they get a location too, 'cause they knew exactly where I was."

José crossed his arms and placed a finger on his lips. "Yes, yes. But this is most certainly something we can use."

Will reached into his pocket and grasped the sample tube in his fingers, as if to reassure him that it was still there. "We'll need to collect as much of that mineral as possible."

José's eyes looked around the room. People had begun to rise for their shift. He nodded to Will and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Our shifts will align in three days. We should discuss this in full then."

With a nod of affirmation from Will, José took his leave. The opportunities they were hoping and praying for were beginning to manifest. Will took a deep breath and let a small, hopeful smile spread across his lips as he stumbled off to his cot and the remedy for his exhaustion.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 3**

_**Undocumented Mining Facility, Kamarov, Pamyat System**_

Will had been sitting patiently in the mess hall for over half an hour while waiting for Orassa and José to return from their shift. According to the schedule, the pair was on the same team today, and all three of them were due to end their shift at the same time. But something was not right. He looked down to the less-than-clear water in his mug and swirled it from side to side while hoping desperately that nothing had happened to their group down in the mines. They had spent two months carefully and secretly collecting the yellow mineral that they counted on to be the crux of their escape plan, and today was to be the day that they finalized it. Will tapped his toe nervously, downed a large gulp of his water, and closed his eyes, begging in his mind that he had not lost yet another group of friends. Without their help, he wasn't sure he would ever see the surviving crew of the late MSV _Hyperion _again.

"Something on your mind?" A female voice asked.

He jumped and looked up in surprise to see Orassa smiling warmly as she came to sit on the other side of the table. José was close behind with his small tray of sustenance. Will let out a sigh of relief and shook his head.

"No! No, I'm fine." Will cleared his throat and straightened himself in his seat. "Just, uh, was a little nervous about what was taking you two so long."

José dropped to his seat and sighed. "The tram malfunctioned on our return trip."

Orassa could see the slight embarrassment on Will's face. "You were worried about us?" She asked as neutrally as possible.

"Don't worry about it," Will quickly argued with a dismissive chuckle. "Was the shift... successful?"

José nodded once. "We found a small pocket. It provided us with enough to fill our quota."

The words were music to Will's ears. He sighed happily and looked between the two of them with a congratulatory smile.

"Then we're ready," he said decisively.

"We are," José agreed. "Ready to begin the final phase of preparation."

Orassa nodded. "Yes, there is still much to do."

Will sat back, feeling slightly defeated. Still, he knew that they were correct. It would take them a few weeks of shift rotation before they would see all of the people they were counting on to make the plan work.

"I looked at the schedules," José added. "I will be up for duty on the deep-drill next."

It would have been either him or Will, as Orassa was always assigned to scanning due to her past career skills. Will did not envy José, however. One of the pillars of their plan involved them having control over the deep-drill, a large machine that hovered and had to be pushed into place for its mining laser to tear rock walls apart during exploratory drilling. Due to the damage it could inflict on its surroundings, the operator wore a shielding suit designed to protect the wearer from flying projectiles produced as a byproduct of the mining process. José was certain the shielding would hold up against a few shots from the guards' rifles.

"We need time to alert everyone," Orassa reminded him.

José waved a hand. "The shift isn't for another twenty-nine days, we will have time. But it must be executed perfectly." He looked to Will. "Everyone will need to have their tubes ready to deactivate their collars in unison. If the security team sees that many collar failures at once, they may suspect a problem and shock the entire group."

"Everyone deactivating the collars in unison won't prevent that," Will pointed out. "It would only keep the twelve people we're counting on safe. That's only twelve people we can guarantee won't be rendered incapacitated."

José nodded solemnly. "Yes, if the others are subjected to a facility-wide crackdown using the collar security systems, we will simply have to hope they can forgive us after the fact."

"Assuming they survive," Orassa noted quietly.

"They wouldn't kill their entire workforce because of one security breech," Will argued before pausing momentarily. "Right?"

The trio shared uncertain looks before shifting their eyes away from one another. They remained silent while distracting themselves with either the water or nutrient bar in front of them long enough for the subject to be at least temporarily forgotten.

"So who is on the final list?" Will asked as his eyes moved to Orassa.

The asari leveled her chin properly as she spoke. "The three of us, of course. Lannus, who was a deckhand on a terminus freighter. Prentin, another turian. Nelsorris, the only other asari in our group. Saelunon, the salarian who has managed to hack the food dispenser on more than one occasion. Jin and Francesca, the two humans who worked as security on a small colony on the border of the Traverse. Edwin, another human from a different colony. And finally, Pelkat and Drezlin, two batarians of a warrior caste who were sold into slavery by a rival officer of theirs." Her eyes glanced upward as she thought to herself before nodding with confidence that she had not forgotten any names.

Will had met and come to know all of them in the three and a half months he had been at the facility. His cot was next to Jin and Francesca's, allowing him to become particularly acquainted and trusting with the two of them. Lannus had also proven to be a trustworthy ally, as he was the first that Will, José and Orassa had approached with their definitive plan for a breakout. To say he was ready and willing would have been an understatement. All the others, however, he had had less time with. While he knew most of them, he had to take José and Orassa's word that they were dependable and trustworthy. Thankfully, he trusted the two of them well enough to respect their judgment.

"We should cement our plan once and for all before we alert the others that we have a date," José suggested.

Orassa nodded firmly. "Agreed."

Will looked to José and raised a brow. "Go for it."

The man cleared his throat to allow him to speak clearly, but quietly. "We will initiate the attack five minutes after the shift begins from our normal dispersion point in the tunnels. The timing must be perfect. Five minutes will give me enough time to prepare the shielding suit while ensuring that the group has not strayed too far into each of their respective mine shafts. It will also provide enough time for the previous shift workers and their guards to take the tram a safe distance away. Once the time arrives, we will deactivate our collars in unison. We will have to distribute the tubes at some point before the shift, preferably before resting hours the day before. Will, you can handle this?"

"Absolutely," Will answered confidently.

"Good. If the guards follow their usual assignments, there will be only two for our group. Immediately upon deactivating my collar, I will use the drill to... deal with them," José continued. "Orassa, you and the other asari will be crucial at this moment. Your biotics will be the only factor to give us a fighting chance."

"It has been some time since I have fully exerted my biotics, but I promise you that I will not fail. Do we have a plan if the guards are not nearby?" Orassa questioned softly.

Will tapped the collar on his neck. "Hopefully they'll come running to investigate."

José nodded in affirmation. "We will secure their weapons and work our way upward from there. I will lead the group, of course, as I will have the suit. Once we have returned to the hub, we can raid the tool depot for any spare suits and deal with the guards as we see fit. We will prioritize the equipment to the twelve of us who are leading the attack, but we should disable as many collars as we can during this time." There was a short pause. "It will only take a few minutes before the entire facility is aware that something is amiss. Our saving grace is that it will take time for the security force to make it from the central chamber to our hub. We must use their initial weakness of numbers to our advantage."

"After that?" Will inquired.

"After that, we wait for a counter-attack. With enough equipment scavenged from the tool depot and fallen guards, we should have a fighting chance," José answered. "Then we must make our way to the central chamber, where the dormitory is located, and secure as much gear as possible. With that, we can work on securing the other hubs and our escape."

The trio exchanged expectant looks, each of them waiting for another to speak. Orassa lifted her chin slightly and nodded in approval.

"We will succeed. I am sure of it."

Will gave her a bittersweet smile. "I heard those same words a few days before I fucked things up and landed myself in here."

José placed a hand on Will's shoulder. "These guards are not soldiers. And they are not expecting an organized rebellion. Have faith, my friend."

* * *

Twenty-nine days later, Will lay in his cot staring at the ceiling. He had not slept for a second the entire night. Out of the corner of his eye Will could see the clock on the far wall counting down to the alarm that was to wake the crew for their shift. He turned onto his side and looked around the bunkroom where a few dozen of his fellow slaves slept. Some of them, at least. There were eleven others, however, that seemed to be laying awaking just as he was. He had distributed the vials of mineral samples the night before, and all of them had been fully informed of the attack plan well in advance. In just over an hour the twelve of them would be jumping into the fire that would either end in their salvation or their death.

José was the first to rise, as always, and headed off for the mess hall to retrieve his morning foodstuffs. Will pulled himself from his cot shortly afterward and dressed in one of the three ratty jumpsuits that made up the entirety of his wardrobe. Inside the pocket was a small glass cylinder. He touched the outside of his pocket just enough to feel its presence before turning to the mess hall door and forcing his feet to carry his body forward. He ate, walked to the tool depot to retrieve his scanner, and made his way to the tram to wait for the rest of his group. The personnel tram was a piece of equipment not quite fitting of the name that seemed more like a few heavy slabs of metal guided by mass effect generators than a tram of any shape or form. Slowly, the others began to appear. The first were the two humans, Jin and Francesca. Will gave them a courteous nod and tried his best not to act suspicious to the two guards that were leaning against a wall a few dozen feet away. The next person to arrive was Orassa, who smiled and bowed her head in greeting to the others. Will always found her sophisticated and almost regal pleasantries so unfortunately out of place given the degraded and torn jumpsuits she and everyone else wore. After her came José, who had been equipping his mining suit and preparing the drill at the tool depot since finishing his quick breakfast. He loaded the equipment onto the tram without saying a word and sat on one of the benches at the front, staring ahead into the mine shaft.

Ten minutes before their shift was to begin, the two guards that had been watching the group from a few dozen feet away nodded to one another and began their slow march toward the tram. Will looked around to see the eleven others, as well as the ten workers who were not aware of their plan. The descent to their working area took only a few minutes. All the while, Will sat with his hands in his pockets and eyes toward the ground, his fingers grasping the tube desperately. Finally, the tram came to a stop in a small, hollowed out room large enough to act as a loading and unloading station. Will looked up to see the exhausted workers from the previous shift lining up to board for their return trip to the hub. The guards waited as Will's group filed out of the tram car and into the room to let the others on.

"Finally," one of the guards muttered as he waited to board.

"Twelve hour shift?" Another asked as he stepped off the tram.

The other shook his head. "Fourteen."

The newly arriving guard laughed and slapped his comrade on the shoulder as they passed, one boarding and one disembarking.

"Enjoy the rest. Our turn to handle these flees."

Will stepped to the side and watched as the previous shift of workers and guards filed onto the tram before setting off up the tunnel toward the hub. Eyes around the room began to dart toward the shift clock sitting on a shelf near the collection depot. Two minutes. The guards had already made their way to the wall where they could relax and continue their conversation from the hub. José was hurrying to prepare the deep-drill's mining laser, all while keeping his helmet off so he would still be able to deactivate his collar when the time came. He turned the laser's hovercart to put the beam's sights at a ninety degree angle away from the guards as to not arouse suspicion. Will looked to the clock again. Thirty seconds. One of the guards looked over from his conversation to see José still working at the laser's control panel.

"The fuck are you doing?" He barked.

José glanced up. "Just calibrating the laser."

Five seconds.

"It's already _calibrated_," the guard grumbled angrily.

Now.

Will pulled his hand from his pocket with the sample tube between his fingers. He held the tube to his neck just long enough to see the ambient tone on his hand from the blinking light disappear. The others had all done the same, almost perfectly in unison. The guards were clearly confused, and raised their weapons in defensive instinct. José had mere seconds to pull on his helmet and throw all of his weight into the mining laser. As it spun in line with the guards, José pressed the button to activate the beam and sent a blinding blue light blazing forth and into the chest of one of the guards. He shouted in pain as the mining laser cut clean through his shields and armor, burning his torso open in under a second. His comrade was forced to jump out of the way and behind the cover of a crate of a supplies.

"Let's go!" José shouted at the top of his lungs.

Will ran to his side and the cover that the mining laser provided. A second later, yelps of pain rang out as the ten slaves who had not been part of their planning were shocked by their collars.

"Group seven has gone hostile!" The guard shouted. "Need immediate support!"

Gunfire erupted from the guard's rifle and tore into the armor plating on the mining drill. Thankfully, the shielding designed to prevent damage during normal mining operations provided enough resistance to stop the salvo.

"Yeaggh!"

The guard screamed in shock as the distorted sound of biotics exploded from somewhere else in the room. Will risked looking around the edge of the drill to see the guard was being thrown into the air by a biotic attack coursing from Orassa's hands. He smiled confidently as the other asari, Nelsorris, slammed the guard with an equally powerful attack and threw him back into the ground. The colliding mass effect fields twisted and ravaged his body, leaving the guard a broken mess on the floor.

José jumped up and ran for the guard that had been torn apart by biotics and quickly retrieved his rifle and the pistol stowed on his back. At the same time, Will hurried to the guard that had been torn open by the mining laser and grabbed his weapons as well. He gripped the rifle in his hand and drew a deep breath through his nose as he felt the overwhelming urge to kill every last one of the slavers in the facility above them.

"Get the others freed!" José shouted to the rest of the team.

Jin, Edwin, Saelunon and Pelkat quickly spread out and deactivated the collars on the ten remaining workers as Will approached Francesca and handed her the pistol he had collected from the dead guard. José waved Lannus over and did the same, equipping the turian with a sidearm and leaving himself and Will with the rifles.

"What is happening?" One of the workers, a salarian, cried out as his collar was deactivated.

"We are escaping from this place," José declared firmly. "I would suggest you all remain here. Things will become violent."

Will leaned back down to the dead guard and pulled off his glove. He unclasped the omnitool bracelet beneath it and slid it onto his wrist before activating the tool and opening up the first active comm channel.

"_Where?" _A voice asked.

"_Hub three!" _Someone said in response.

Will looked over his shoulder. "José, we gotta get back to the hub _now_ if we're going to raid the tool depot!"

"I can activate the collection carts," the salarian, Saelunon, called.

Five of the carts had already been lined up to be loaded and sent back to the hub for processing on the conveyor belt. The salarian stood at the back, fiddling with the control panel that dictated their automated movements.

"Everyone in," José ordered as he ran toward them.

The group of twelve approached and begin filling the five carts, which allowed two or three per cart with ease. The carts were barely more than large, metal bins on an automated guidance system, leaving Will with no illusions that they would stop a bullet. The ten other workers were clearly frightened, and stepped back to watch as the hopeful liberators prepared themselves. With the group fully loaded, Saelunon activated the return sequence and jumped into the final car as they lurched forward and began ascending toward the hub.

"What's the plan?" Will asked José.

"We'll take out as much initial resistance as we can in the hub, but if you see an opening, I want you to get to the tool depot as quickly as possible. Francesca, Lannus and I will act as a distraction if necessary." José looked back to the second car. "Orassa, you will stay with me. Nelsorris, follow Will when he makes his run for the tools."

The two asari nodded in affirmation.

"I will erect a biotic barrier if we attract their attention," Nelsorris informed Will.

"Good, good." Will looked down at the rifle in his hands and nodded reassuringly to himself.

José looked back to one of the rear carts. "Drezlin, Prentin! Follow Will and Nelsorris to the tool depot! I want as many people as possible suited up!"

The turian and batarian exchanged a nervous look, but nodded agreeably.

"I see the end of the tunnel ahead," José declared. "Everyone prepare yourselves! If you do not have a weapon, stay safe until you can acquire one!"

Will looked ahead to see the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter and larger. He brought his rifle up to bear and shoved the stock into his shoulder while closing an eye and aiming down the barrel. The cart leveled off as it left the tunnel and entered the hub cavern. Will scanned the room immediately and spotted a trio of guards running toward them from the prefab unit used as their ready room.

"Three, right side!" José called out.

Will, José, Lannus and Francesca opened fire as soon as they had a shot. The guards were clearly not expecting resistance so quickly, and dove for cover as their shields began deteriorating rapidly. Will caught the slowest of the three in leg as his shields failed, puncturing his armor and dropping him with a yelp of pain. José, Lannus and Francesca adjusted their fire and silenced him. Will turned and looked straight ahead to the center of the cavern. The prefab mess hall and bunkroom was at the center of the small pavilion, with the tool depot being around the corner on the left, while the guard's ready room was positioned on the right. In theory, it would line up perfectly with their plans: José, Lannus and Francesca could distract any of the guards on the right side of the building while Will and the others with him could move to the tool depot on the left.

"On me!" Will shouted as he let off the trigger and turned from the hostiles.

He tumbled over the lip of the cart and onto the dirt floor of the cavern, putting himself out of sight of the guards just as they began to return fire. Nelsorris, Drezlin and Prentin jumped out of their carts and hurried to Will's side as they crouched for cover. Will pointed to the corner of the mess hall and looked to each of them.

"We've got about forty feet of exposed terrain before we're out of their firing angle," he said quickly. "Whatever you do, _do not stop running!_"

The three of them nodded with determined eyes. Will reached back and knocked the metal side of the cart behind him.

"Orassa, now!"

On cue, the asari let out a guttural roar as she flung a violent and unrestrained biotic shockwave toward the two guards. As soon as the attack was unleashed, Will pushed himself to his feet and sprinted toward the left corner of the large, central prefab with the scavenged rifle hugged tight against his chest. He didn't have time to check that the others were following until he had slid around the corner and out of sight. He sighed in relief as Nelsorris shot past him and around the corner, followed by Prentin and Drezlin a second later. Will ignored his driving heart and set off toward the tool depot located just around the corner at the end of the prefab. He pushed his back up against the wall as he reached the corner and peered around to see the lockup where the tools were stored and retrieved by the guards. As of now there were two figures behind the line of workbenches that separated the lockup from the queue where workers would wait to pick up their equipment.

The first man, an unarmored human, pointed in the direction of the ensuing firefight. "Help them, god damn it!"

Will could see the unarmored man holding a pistol in his hand. The armored guard he was trying to convince to leave, however, held his rifle up and shook his head reluctantly.

"Call if anyone shows up!" He responded while running off toward José, Orassa, and the rest of the group.

Will looked back to the others and held up a single finger. He held himself perfectly still and counted to fifteen before stepping out from behind the corner with is rifle aimed directed at the mechanic.

"Drop your gun and raise your hands or you're _fucking dead,_" Will demanded in as intimidating a tone as he could.

The man jumped in shock and stared at Will for a few seconds before realizing he was staring down the barrel of a rifle and nodded, slowly laying the gun on the counter.

"Hey, easy," the man pleaded. "I'm just a mechanic."

"A mechanic with no aversion to forced labor," Nelsorris correct as she stepped out with biotic energy swirling around her wrists.

The mechanic's eyes widened as Prentin and Drezlin revealed themselves as well. Will held his rifle on the man as he approached the workbench between them and motioned toward the pistol.

"Drezlin, grab the gun," he ordered.

The batarian hurried around Will and grabbed the pistol. As he aimed toward the mechanic, Will dropped his aim and reached over the bench to grab the mechanic's hand. He yanked it down and unclasped the omnitool bracelet on his wrist.

"Can't have you alerting the others," Will said in a feigned apology. "Prentin, here."

The turian grasped the bracelet and slid it onto his wrist before leaping over the counter and stepping up to the door of the lockup with his omnitool activated.

"What's the passcode?" The turian asked.

The mechanic swallowed hard and squinted his eyes, visualizing the lock in his mind. "It's, uh... 8 – 2 – 7 – 5 – 5 – 0 – 5 – 1."

The lock pinged amicably as Prentin activated the code and stepped to the side. "We're in."

Will grinned and jumped over the counter. "Watch him," he said to the turian and batarian. "Nelsorris, with me. We need to get these suits on as quickly as we can."

He handed his rifle to Prentin as he passed by and stepped through the opening door of the lockup. Nelsorris vaulted over the workbench and followed him inside as Will began to scan the racks of equipment for the mining suits.

"Wait, did you say 'suits?'" The mechanic asked.

Will glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, the mining suits."

"Heh, sorry buddy, you're outta luck there."

Will narrowed his eyes and turned back to face the man. He waved Nelsorris on to continue searching the equipment as he hurried back to the mechanic and stared him down.

"What do you mean?"

"They're not here," the mechanic laughed. "I mean, there might be one or two back there. But hub one and two requisitioned all our spares a few days ago for an excavation."

Will felt a pit in his stomach that may have been his heart dropping. "Nelsorris?" He called hopefully.

The asari let out a disgruntled sigh. "I found the cases. They're all empty."

Panic was creeping into Will's mind. If their chances before had been slim, they were now barely existent.

"This... this is not how this was supposed to go," Will shook his head and grabbed the rifle back from Prentin. "Okay, change of plans. We need to get back to the others. We have to stay together from this point on."

"What about him?" Drezlin muttered while motioning his gun toward the mechanic.

Will pointed to the lockup. "Just throw him inside and lock the door, hurry!"

Nelsorris stepped out and grabbed the man by his jumpsuit. The mechanic stumbled slightly as he was forced into the lockup and locked inside by Prentin. Will had already jumped back over the workbench and was slowly building a running pace toward the prefab with the others falling in behind him. The sound of gunfire was still echoing loudly throughout the cavern.

"We'll head around the other side," he called to them. "See if we can get a flanking angle!"

Will sprinted down the side of the building and slid to a halt at the edge. He peered around to see gunfire being spit back and forth between the escapees and the guards. Another one of the three original guards had been killed at some point, only to be replaced by the guard Will had seen upon first arriving at the tools depot Will drew in a sharp breath as he looked to the mining carts to see the body of a turian laying to the side. Jin had retrieved his weapon and was now returning fire in his stead.

"Lannus is down," Will reported. "We have to help them!"

Will sprinted from the corner of the building to a bin full of rocks that would provide excellent cover against gunfire. He lifted his rifle and opened up on the closest guard as Nelsorris unleashed a biotic lift on him and ran to join Will. Drezlin leaned out from his position at the corner of the building and fired his pistol toward the other target, who was quickly shifting to shield himself from the new angle of attack. Will ducked down and activated the omnitool on his wrist and began a quick scan for nearby comm signals. He sighed in relief as he saw one generic enough to be José's suit and connect to him immediately.

"The suits were moved!" Will shouted as soon as the connection was established.

"_Damn it," _José cursed angrily. _"Keep up the fight, they're almost down!"_

"José, they'll mow us down!" Will argued frantically.

José snarled. _"I said keep fighting!"_

Another biotic attack from Orassa struck one of the guards and flung him to the ground where a shot from Francesca's pistol landed the killing blow. As their final foe ducked into cover behind a crate, movement from the large tunnel across the room that led up to the facility's central chamber caught Will's eye. He dropped to the ground instinctively just as a hail of bullets came raining down on both groups. At least a dozen security guards had arrived to the hub and were storming into the cavern with their sights drawn on the slaves attempting escape. Will peered out from cover to see the other group returning fire. He shook his head desperately as an overwhelming storm of bullets pierced through José's shielding and armor, sending him tumbling backward and onto the ground as blood poured from his wounds. Francesca and Jin ducked down as quickly as they could, but the latter was too late. A bullet struck clean through Jin's head, leaving his lifeless body to collapse beside Francesca as she screamed in horror.

Will closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, shaking his head in fright.

"Enough!" The booming voice of the foreman shouted.

The gunfire quickly ceased.

"Drop your weapons and come out!" He ordered. "I will _not _repeat myself!"

Will opened his eyes and looked to his side where Nelsorris sat with her back pressed up against the wall. She shook her head hopelessly and grasped her face in her hands as she breathed deeply to pull herself together.

A single shot rang out that impacted somewhere in the ceiling. _"Now!"_ The foreman yelled, clearly enraged. "Or I'll kill you all myself!"

"I don't want to die," Nelsorris muttered quietly.

Will drew in a deep breath and threw his rifle to the ground. "I'm sorry," he managed to say.

He raised his hands and slowly stood from his concealment. Will looked to where the others had been hiding in their cover and caught Orassa's eye. The asari stared to him with a look of something between disappointment and bitter resignation. Will turned his eyes away from her and looked to the foreman as he stared him down with at least ten armed guards around him. He wasn't going to let all of these people die because he and José had failed. Will closed his eyes and prepared himself for the inevitable.

"I surrender," Will said weakly.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 4**

_**Undocumented Mining Facility, Kamarov, Pamyat System**_

One by one, the others had followed Will's lead and surrendered. Together they were roughly rounded up by the guards under command of the facility's foreman and lined shoulder to shoulder at the center of the hub. It hadn't taken long for other slaves to appear from the mess hall and bunkroom once the gunfire had ceased, and a decent sized group had gathered to watch in silence. The fact that the guards were not dispersing them was worrying Will. He desperately hoped that they were not about to be made an example of. Will had only seen the batarian foreman once or twice after his arrival, and knew that he did not like dealing with the problems caused by his slaves.

"It's a simple question," the foreman said with a sigh. "Who is responsible for this? Or do I need to punish _everyone_ to the same extent?"

This was his fault. He should have taken control when José was killed. These people had been counting on him and now three of them were dead. Three so far. The foreman came to a stop in front of the line and ran his gaze from one end to the other. If this was the end, Will couldn't let everyone else fall with him. As he opened his mouth to speak, another voice barked out a response.

"It was José Moore," yelped Prentin.

"José Moore," the foreman repeated.

"He was in the shielding suit," Prentin paused momentarily. "You killed him."

The foreman looked back over his shoulder to where the bodies of the three dead slaves had been lined up by the guards. "That so?" He asked. "Convenient that the one responsible was killed, no?"

"You wanted the answer, you got it," Francesca muttered weakly.

As he turned back to the row of would-be escapees, the tram appeared from the tunnel where the attack had begun. Three guards jumped off and hurried over to the foreman with their guns held across their chests.

"Sir, we checked the tunnel. Two of ours dead, none of them," reported the first of the group.

The foreman nodded in consideration. "Well, if Mister Moore was indeed the lone instigator for this pathetic little rebellion, I suppose part of the punishment has already been dealt." He held up a single finger. "But the numbers don't add up yet."

Will and the rest of the slaves stood motionless as the foreman slowly began to circle around them. He could see out of the corner of his eye, just as the foreman was stepping out of sight, that he had drawn the pistol from his holster.

"Five of my men. Three of yours," the continued. "Let's even that out."

Two shots rang out in quick succession. Two bodies collapsed to the ground. Will looked down with wide eyes. The first was Edwin, one of the humans, shot through the back of the head and laying face-down in the dirt as blood gushed from his wound. The second was Nelsorris, the asari. The bullet had passed clear through the side of her head and caused her to crumple onto her side next to Edwin's body. Will would have shouted in fear or anger had he not been paralyzed with shock. The others had the same reaction, leaving only the slaves who had been watching from beside the mess hall to gasp and scream in terror. Amidst the pandemonium, the foreman walk back to stand in front of the line with his gun still in his hand.

"You all should consider yourselves incredibly fortunate that I don't have another shipment of workers due for a few months," he informed them far too casually. "You're also lucky that I believe in giving everyone a second chance. Even scum like you all." He turned to face the onlookers and raised his voice. "But consider this your only warning. If this happens again I will dispose of _everyone_ involved." He pointed to the seven remaining escapees. "And all of them as well, just for good measure."

Will could hear the shaking and stuttering in his breath. He had seen loved ones and comrades dead or dying before. He had even seen his own father laying face-down in a pool of his own blood. But he had never seen two people he trusted be executed in cold blood in front of his eyes. Will gasped as he was yanked back slightly and had the inactive collar around his neck ripped off. A new collar was locked into place a second later. The slaver quartermaster proceeded down the line of seven and did the same to the others as the foreman watched patiently. Once the final collar was in place, the foreman activated his omnitool and casually tapped a few commands. A brief moment later, all seven yelled in pain as the collars unleashed into their necks the most excruciating pain any of them had even felt. Will fell to his knees and grabbed the dirt floor with his hands to keep himself upright.

"Your assigned guards will deliver a punishment to the degree that they see fit on a schedule that I will dictate," the foreman declared plainly.

As the shock ended, Will shook involuntarily and gasped for breath, coughing deeply. At that moment, he almost wished he had received the same punishment as Edwin and Nelsorris.

* * *

It had been a full week and Will was still surprised each day when he woke up. Somehow, he was still holding onto the hope that he had, at some point, slumbered into a terrible nightmare. At first he had hoped that dreamed everything since the _Hyperion_ crew had encountered Cerberus. Then everything since his final confrontation with their frigate. Now, he wished it was everything since their failed escape attempt. He was running out of concessions. He stared at the ceiling as he lay on his cot while the alarm blared for the fifth and final time to signal his shift beginning in one hour.

"Come on, Will," a soft voice called.

Will turned his head to see Francesca sitting on her cot a few rows away, strapping on her boots.

"You'll be late," she continued flatly.

Francesca had barely spoken since their escape attempt. Will knew that she and Jin had known each other since before they were enslaved, but it wasn't until his death that Will realized how close they had been.

"Thanks," he spoke quietly in return.

She stood and began to walk away without another word.

Will dressed himself and made his way to the mess hall where the rest of the upcoming shift workers were already eating their breakfast. He ate slowly and stared ahead blankly as the others around him finished and hurried off to the tool depot to retrieve their equipment for the day. Will lagged behind them, his body sore from both work and the intense shocks he was subjected to every day or so. After requisitioning a scanner, he crossed the cavern to the tram where two of the guards stood watching him with predatory eyes.

"I'd suggest you put that down," the turian guard ordered.

With a defeated sigh, Will came to a stop and knelt down to place his scanner on the ground. He looked up as the first guard opened his omnitool and selected a shock severity before administering the punishment. The seconds the shock lasted felt like minutes. When it unceremoniously concluded, Will gasped deeply and focused his eyes the best he could. He managed to push himself to his feet and grab his scanner before stumbling forward onto the tram. He tripped as the second guard kicked his leg, causing him to slam into the metal plating of the floor. Will lay motionless for a moment before gathering his strength and pulling himself to his feet once again, giving the pair of guards an intense glare of hatred as they boarded after him without a second thought.

When the tram arrived at the tunnels, Will stood and waited to step off after the other passengers. His eyes lit up slightly as he caught sight of Orassa standing in the group waiting to board. They had not had their shifts intersect since the escape. He mustered the best smile he could and gave her a friendly nod. The asari's eyes fell on him briefly before looking down without a thought of acknowledgment. Will stared in surprise until a shove in his back reminded him to move forward and step off the tram. He looked back as Orassa boarded with her group. The asari continued to stare at the ground, a solemn and unreadable expression on her face.

"You're with my team," Francesca's voice called again.

He turned to see her waiting with a drill in her hand. Will glanced back to Orassa one last time as the tram sped off toward the hub.

* * *

The days were beginning to blend together and keeping track of how many had passed was becoming increasingly difficult for Will. What was once a means of motivation and invigoration was now merely a stinging reminder of how futile any remaining hope seemed to be. He sat in the mess hall, idly sipping at the glass of water in his hand and staring ahead to nothing in particular. He felt as though he had not slept in weeks. Each night when he lay down in his cot, all he could think of were their faces. At first it was only those who had died during their attempted escape: José, Lannus, Jin, Nelsorris and Edwin. Then Welkinn's face joined them. Shortly after that, Corsin's. Just the night before, his father's face had appeared, all of them together staring blankly and lifelessly.

"William."

It took Will a moment to realize he was being addressed. He raised his eyes to look across the table where Orassa stood with her hands straight at her sides and a reluctantly concerned expression on her face. He opened his mouth to speak, but found no words.

"William, I'm sorry," she apologized. "The past few weeks have been difficult. I have been avoiding having to speak to you. "

He nodded slowly. "I understand."

She gave him a regretful frown and walked around the table to sit beside him.

"Are you doing alright?"

Will closed his eyes and swallowed the last sip of water in his glass. "Watching good people die is... it's hard to..."

"I know," Orassa assured. "I have had to do it far too many times in my life."

"But that's not the worst part," Will argued. "The worst part is that it's my fault."

The asari furrowed her brow. "Your fault? Why would you say such a thing?"

He shook his head. "Someone had to hold us together when José was... when he couldn't anymore. It should have been me." Will put a hand over his eyes. "Instead I just fucking gave up."

"William, we had no chance once the reinforcements arrived," she argued quietly. "We estimated it would take them upwards of fifteen minutes to deduce a problem and form up a counter-attack. They were here in less than eight."

"That was _my_ estimate," Will said bitterly.

"That José and I agreed on," Orassa countered.

Will looked over to her clenched his fists. "Can you just let me have this? This was _my fault._"

Orassa stared at him with concern in her eyes and tilted her head in slight confusion. "You would rather lie to yourself than accept that there might be variables outside of your control?" She shook her head. "None of the deaths here have been your fault, William. I would not lie to someone about something so important. But you are right about one thing. You did fail."

"I what?"

"You failed," she said firmly. "We all did. But one failure does not mean we should give up."

Will turned himself back to the table and closed his eyes. "We have nothing now. And they'll be watching us even closer than before."

Orassa reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "The moment you let yourself truly believe that is the moment they have won. Do you really want to die here?"

"Of course not," he answered quietly.

"Then you _must _believe there is still hope." Orassa sighed. "It may not be tomorrow, or a month from now, or even a year from now. But we will live to see ourselves leave this place. Do you trust me?"

Will continued to sit with his eyes closed. The hand on his shoulder was warm and comforting, something he had not felt in a long, long time. Part of him felt that Orassa's seemingly blind faith was unfounded, but rest of him wanted desperately to believe otherwise. He finally opened his eyes and looked to her with a small nod.

"I do."

"We'll have our chance," she reiterated. "But we must be patient. Cautious. More so than we ever were before."

He answered slowly. "I know. We'll be okay."

Will took in a shaky breath and shut is eyes again. Orassa pulled him into a gentle, motherly embrace and nodded softly. He let out a deep sigh and sat back in his seat looking to her with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you," Will said earnestly. "How are you, by the way?"

Orassa smiled softly. "A life centuries long gives you a different perspective from most. It's given me experience with tribulations such as this. I've learned that whenever you think you are at your lowest, there is always a high due sooner than you might think."

"Heh, I've had some ups and downs too, Orassa. Believe me." His expression slackened slightly. "But nothing like this."

"Then, like I said, your options are either to roll over and accept the fate which has been undeservedly thrust upon us, or reject it and hold onto the hope that things can change someday." She crossed her arms. "I've lived too long to let myself die _here_ of all places."

"I really hope you're right," Will admitted.

Orassa slowly rose from her seat. "You finished a shift recently?"

Will cleared his throat and stood beside her. "Yeah. I need to get some sleep. I have to be up for the next one in six hours."

"Then rest well, William. And don't forget that I'm always here if you need me."

"The same goes for me to you." He looked over to her and mustered a tiny smile. "Thank you again. God, if José _and_ you had been killed..." He shook the thought from his mind. "We'll get out. We owe it to him."

"That we do," she agreed. "And we will. Our day will come."


	5. Chapter 5

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 5**

_**Undocumented Mining Facility, Kamarov, Pamyat System**_

Will let out a small groan as he pulled himself off of his cot and onto his feet. He reached down to grab one of his jumpsuits and slowly pulled it on along with his boots. His eyes shifted to the clock on the wall. The time indicated that the alarm for his shift was to sound in a few minutes, but months ago he had fallen into the habit of waking up slightly early. He stared at the clock and wished he knew how many days had gone by. Will had stopped keeping track after he realized that the days in the facility were not the same as the galactic standard.

"I won't die here," he whispered to himself.

He had started out every morning by reassuring himself that one day they would escape, as Orassa had advised him to do. The asari claimed that she had been doing this since the day she had arrived, and it was the only thing that kept her going at times. But it hadn't been enough for Will. He'd needed something more to keep himself from giving up hope. Will closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he thought of Shansa and Eleena's faces. The first thing he saw was the smile Shansa almost always wore, and felt his spirits rise just from the mental image. He recalled the memory of the two of them docking the _Hyperion_ alone for the first time, something he had not thought about in years. Captain Nieto's body was still on board, and they had sworn to one another that they would find him a civilized port for burial. Will couldn't remember the name of the rainy colony that had accepted his body. He would have to find it again someday.

Then his thoughts shifted to Eleena. A wave of senses settled over his mind. At first it was what he saw from her: a confident grin, a teasing roll of her eyes, a book sticking out of her bag of tools, a comforting touch of her hand. Then he felt what was inside her. Thoughts and memories she had shared with him during their numerous bondings.

Will saw Eleena, perhaps a hundred or two years younger, on an unfamiliar ship working tirelessly at the drive core.

"_We don't have much time,"_ a nervous, disembodied voice called out.

Eleena acknowledged the warning and continued her furious tinkering on a coolant valve. _"Relax. We're not dead yet."_ She responded.

She looked down at a timer on her omnitool that read twenty-six minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There was plenty of time to get the drive core working before the ship fell out of orbit from Olokun.

"William?"

He felt himself jump slightly as he opened his eyes and looked to his side where a woman's voice had called to him. Orassa stood beside him with a small smile and her arms folded behind her back.

"Are you alright?" She continued.

Will took a deep breath and took one last glimpse at his morning remembrance before pushing the thoughts aside and nodding in response.

"I'm fine," he answered quietly.

Orassa placed a hand on his shoulder as the two began to walk toward the mess hall. "I didn't want you to be late. You do remember that we have things to discuss this morning, yes?"

"Yeah, of course." His voice trailed off as they stepped through the door. "I was just thinking about a few old things."

The two of them retrieved their morning meals and came to sit in the back corner of the room, far enough away from any others that they would be out of earshot. After taking a few bites of their food, Will downed a long gulp of water and sighed.

"I've been talking to some of the others and I think we'll get our chance within a few months," he said decisively.

Orassa's chewing slowed slightly as she raised her brow in surprise. He swallowed her food and took a sip of water for herself before replying.

"That seems... awfully soon," she said reluctantly.

"The hard part is over," he quickly objected. "We've know the patterns, even those that take months to recognize, and we have people ready to help. Now, we just have to wait for the stars to align." Will placed his hands on the table. "But you've got doubts?"

"I trust your judgment," Orassa answered. "But, as you said, we must wait for _all_ the variables. The guard shift change, gear maintenance and our shift schedule does not coincide simultaneously but once in a very rare while."

"And I'm telling you, it's going to happen soon," Will protested. "I've been watching the patterns and I think-"

"William, we must be _certain._ You know what happened when we guessed," Orassa reminded him.

He nearly snapped at her in protest, but caught and restrained himself. Of course he knew. Five dead, one being a close friend. Daily collar shocking as a continual punishment. Months upon months of waiting for the foreman to let his guard down enough for them to begin gathering data. And, of course, the yellow mineral with electromagnetic properties was now identified by the the scanners and marked if any was extracted without authorization. Now, the only viable way to deactivate their collars was to do it straight from a guard's omnitool.

Will grumbled irritably. "I know, I know. We won't rush it."

"Will Hume!" A voice boomed from the opposite end of the mess hall.

The quiet murmurs from other slaves silenced at once. Will looked over to see the foreman standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and four eyes staring him down. Will glanced back to Orassa, who took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She might have been praying for all he knew, but he could not just ignore the call. He rose to his feet.

"Sir?"

The batarian held up a hand and ordered him over with a beckoning finger. Will slowly made his way across the room with the nervous eyes of fellow slaves following him as he passed by. As he came to a stop in front of the foreman, the batarian looked him up and down once.

"Sir?" Will repeated, as condescendingly as possible.

"Someone's interested in... purchasing you," the batarian said slowly, almost out of disbelief. "Sounds like someone you pissed off at some point."

Will set his jaw defiantly and crossed his arms. "Are you intentionally drawing this out or what?"

The batarian snarled and ushered him through the door. Will stepped down the stairs to the dirt floor of the hub cavern and looked straight ahead. He could see two guards talking to three armored strangers facing away from him: a male salarian and turian, and a human female, judging by her stance and hair wrapped in a tight bun. One of the two guards nodded and pointed behind the three guests to where Will and the foreman approached. They came to a stop a few feet away as the others turned to face them.

Will frozen in shock as the three new comers stared him down. Not out of fear, but from utter incomprehension. The turian and salarian were unrecognizable to Will, but the woman at the center was someone he had not known or seen since their lives were torn apart on Arvuna. She was a ghost. Her name was Kay Fischer. The woman's eyes locked onto Will intently and her nostrils flared just slightly in excitement. Her lips curled into a small grin. As Shansa's older sister, the two shared almost identical facial features, but everything else was completely different. Where Shansa was petite, pale and redheaded like their father, Kay had inherited the darker skin, jet-black hair and tall, intimidating stature of their mother. Will and Kay stared one another down in silence for nearly ten full seconds before the foreman cleared his throat loudly.

"This who you're lookin' for?" The batarian asked.

Kay continued to stare Will down in what seemed like a gleam of fascination. She seemed almost as surprised as Will. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Good. He's been a pain in the ass," the foreman grumbled. "But he's not free. Let's talk figures."

Kay drew in a deep breath. "No, let's not."

In one swift motion, Kay spun on her heel to face the foreman and drew the pistol on her belt. As she brought the pistol in line with his face, three bullets discharged from the weapon in rapid succession and killed the foreman instantly. Before the two guards standing with them had a chance to react, the turian and salarian had lifted their rifles and unloaded a dozen rounds into them, killing both. As the third body hit the ground, Kay spun to face two guards on the far side of the room who had just heard the commotion and were turning to investigate. Together, the three of them opened fire and unleashed a hail of bullets from their military-grade weaponry into the two other guards while Will scrambled back and away from the confrontation. It quickly became apparent that the equipment the guards were outfitted with were in no way comparable to those of Kay and her two companions in an even fight, as the two others fell to the ground after only a dozen or so shots. Kay holstered her sidearm and drew her rifle as she turned and hurried over to where Will was crouched and watching.

"The manifest was right," Kay said with a wicked grin to no one in particular. "Willie, are there more guards on this level?"

Will blinked and pulled himself to his feet. "I..." He shook his head. "Kay, what are you... _how _are you-"

"Don't really have time for twenty questions!" Kay interrupted. "We're getting you out. Are there more or not?"

"No... no, there are plenty down in the tunnels, but they're about to return with their shift workers. And all the other hubs should have a half-dozen or so as well," Will recalled. "And that's not counting those back in the main chamber."

"Okay, then we need to leave _now_," Kay declared. "Fynnis! Get this thing off of him."

The turian turned and trotted over with his omnitool activated. He knelt beside Will and held his hand up beside the collar around his neck as he worked to disable it.

"Did you hit their comms?" Kay asked as Fynnis arrived.

"About ten seconds before you blew that batarian's head open," the turian assured her casually.

The collar around Will's neck buzzed and slackened. Will reached around his neck and unclasped the lock, pulling it off with a small groan of relief.

Kay watched as the collar was removed and grabbed her pistol from her belt. "Your dad showed you how to use these things, right? Still remember?"

Will grunted and pulled himself to his feet. "You could say that," he said with a bewildered laugh.

"Good."

She shoved the sidearm into his hand and turned around. "Alright, let's get the fuck out of here. Which way did we come in from?"

Will was still in a state of shock and was hoping that his mind would catch up at some point. Fynnis pointed toward the tunnel on the far side of the room that led up to the central chamber and the trio turned to make their escape.

"Wait, wait!" Will called as he finally processed what was happening. "There are hundreds of other people enslaved here!"

Kay came to a firm stop. "We'll contact the Alliance and they'll send in a team. But we can't take out everyone here by ourselves!"

Will shook his head defiantly. "No, we have to bring someone!"

"Rggh! You're making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be, Willie!" Kay barked, the stress starting to show.

"Well if I'd known you were going to come back from the dead to rescue me today I would have been more prepared!" Will shouted in response.

Kay opened her mouth to object, only to decide against it and let out a sigh. He turned and ran back toward the door that led into the mess hall as Kay, Fynnis and the salarian watched. Will opened the door and burst inside to a dozen shocked faces. Orassa looked up in surprise from the far table, her eyes clearly strained from worrying. She rose to her feet as she saw Will standing in the door, weapon in hand, and ran toward him.

"William!" The asari called. "What-"

"No time," he objected. "Come with me!"

Will beckoned her to follow and ran to where Kay and the others were waiting. Orassa shook her head, utterly perplexed, and looked to Will with her mouth agape.

"This is Orassa," Will said with a small pant.

The asari looked between Will and their three rescuers. "Who is this? What's going on?"

"I'm Kay. We're leaving," Kay informed her curtly. "Fynnis, you mind?"

The turian pulled up his omnitool and deactivated the collar on Orassa's neck the same as he had done for Will. As they began to run toward the tunnel that led to the surface, Orassa grabbed Will's arm to get his attention. He looked to the side and raised a brow, waiting for her to speak. The asari seemed to be in the same state of shock he had been in just a minute earlier.

"There are others," she managed to say. "Francesca, Prentin... we can't leave them."

"I know, I know. But it's either us or no one at all right now. We'll do something for them," Will assured her.

"Is that so?" Kay asked challengingly.

Will looked ahead to see her looking back over her shoulder. "At the very least we can shut down security!"

Kay grunted at Will's resistance, but looked over to the salarian that ran with them. "Myyl, is the ship ready for a quick getaway?"

"It should be," the salarian answered.

"Fine," Kay conceded. "We'll hit those buildings in the central chamber, but we're not sticking around!" She looked back to Will. "I'll give you three minutes, any more than that and we're pushing our luck too far."

Will wanted to fight for more time considering he had never even been inside the central chamber's main prefab, but he felt he was already pushing too much. He was being saved by a woman he thought had been _dead_ or _enslaved_ for years. Now was not the time to complicate matters.

"Fynnis, their comms still down?" Kay asked as they approached the end of the tunnel.

"Yeah, but they're probably investigating by now," the turian answered.

The group slowed and knelt behind a group of crates at the entrance to the tunnel. Myyl peered over the top and looked back to the others.

"I see two or three guards. They look a bit spooked," he said nervously.

"Probably know something's up," Kay muttered. "Which means reinforcements are probably on their way." She looked back to Will and pointed a finger. "We'll get you inside that building. _Three minutes _and we're leaving, you got that?"

Will nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, understood."

Her lips curled slightly in satisfaction. "Let's clear these guys out." Kay pointed to Will and Orassa. "You two stay the hell down. We'll take care of this."

They were met with no objections. A second later, Kay, Fynnis and Myyl were charging the guards with their guns blazing. Will pressed his back to the crates and closed his eyes, hoping desperately that he was not in the midst of a dream.

"Will!" His eyes shot open as he turned to look at a still bewildered Orassa. "Answers!" She demanded.

"I don't have any," Will admitted. "None that make sense at least. I've told you about what happened to me and my colony when I was younger, right? That's Kay Fischer... she was abducted with everyone else. At least, I thought so."

Orassa furrowed her brow. "You thought so?"

The sound of gunfire crackled and echoed through the cavern as Kay and her team battled the guards on post.

"There were only four of us who weren't abducted or killed when the village was attacked," Will quickly explained. "Kay wasn't one of us."

Orassa shrugged helplessly. "Then what is she doing here?" She shook her head immediately afterward. "Not that you would know..."

"Exactly," Will replied. "We'll get some answers after we're out."

The gunfire ceased. Will looked over the top of the crate to see Kay, Fynnis and Myyl quickly checking over the bodies of three guards that they strewn about the open area between the tunnel and the central prefab structure. After quickly verifying they were dead, Kay turned to face Will and Orassa and waved them over urgently. They ran toward the trio with Will holding the pistol ready in his hand just in case a problem arose.

"I'll take point inside," Kay decided. "Follow me. Fynnis, Myyl, keep thing secure out here."

The turian and salarian nodded and slid into cover behind a cart of supplies near the door. Kay marched to the entrance of the prefab and tapped the panel at the center of the door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. The door slid open to reveal a guard with his gun pointed directly at Kay's head. Before she or Will could bring their weapons up, Orassa hit the target with a biotic throw, tossing the man back and off of his feet. Kay quickly took aim and fired a few shots into the guard before lifting her rifle and scanning the room in search of other targets. Upon seeing none, she looked back to Orassa and grinned.

"Nice one, blue."

Orassa let the biotic energy dissipate from her hands as she simply nodded in acknowledgment. Kay stepped inside and headed straight for a door on the far wall of the entrance hallway. Will and Orassa followed close behind, each of them ready to react to a fight at a moment's notice. After clearing the first few rooms and finding nothing worthwhile, a voice broke over Kay's omnitool.

"_We've got company out here!"_ Myyl said over the comms.

"Hold them off," Kay ordered. "We're still looking for the security room."

The sound of gunfire popped through the omnitool speaker. _"Hurry!"_

After checking a few more rooms, Will finally sighed in relief as they found one littered with computer terminals. He hurried inside and sat down at the only terminal that was active and quickly began tapping through the command protocols.

"This is it," he said happily. "I should be able to deactivate all the collars and security doors..."

The tapped a few keys and smiled to himself as a series of red indicators turned blue. Kay leaned against the desk beside him and motioned toward the screen.

"That all?" She asked.

Will nodded and sat back. "Yeah. I think so."

Kay cracked her knuckles while fidgeting impatiently. "Then we-"

"_Kay!"_ Fynnis's voice called over the comms. _"Myyl took a hit! He's not moving!"_

"Shit," Kay muttered. "Come on!"

She turned and sprinted into the hallway with Will and Orassa following behind as close as they could. Upon entering the front room they could see Fynnis through the open door returning fire to an unseen enemy. Beside him, Myyl lay on the ground with a pair of bullet wounds in his chest. Kay lifted her rifle and barreled through the open door to slide into cover beside Fynnis. Together, they unloaded on the guards that had begun to appear from the lower tunnels. Will and Orassa ducked down behind a desk in the prefab's entrance hall and peered over the top to watch. Fynnis dropped down and crawled toward Myyl with his omnitool active to scan the salarian. Will felt his heart sink as the turian shook his head and resumed his position beside Kay with his rifle spraying bullets down range.

"Myyl's dead," he said matter-of-factly but loud enough to be heard over the gunfire.

"Shit. Then we have to get to the _Trueshot_ now or they'll overwhelm us!" Kay shouted as she pointed to the airlock on one of the walls of the cavern. "We landed through there!"

"Can you carry Myyl's body that far?" Will asked.

Kay shook her head. "No."

There was a brief silence among the group before Fynnis finally spoke to prevent them from wasting even more time. "He knew the risks of piracy when he joined up."

Will frowned in concern at the insinuation.

Fynnis ducked back behind cover as his weapon overheated. "We've gotta run for it."

"What about Will and his friend?" Kay called, still firing into the enemy targets.

"I can form a barrier for us!" Orassa called to them.

Kay briefly glanced back over her shoulder and nodded. "Then we're just wasting time. Come on!"

Orassa looked to Will and smiled serenely in response to his doubtful expression. "Trust me, William."

The asari jumped up and held out her hands, calling up a circular biotic barrier that extended a few feet out from her body. Will stood beside her and put his hand on her shoulder to make sure they would stay together. The two of them stepped out of the prefab and into the cavern where four or five guards had gathered to form up their attack. Will ducked instinctively as bullets struck the barrier, but were deflected by the biotic field. Orassa wasted no time and immediately set off toward the door that provided passage to the crater where ships landed when visiting the facility.

"Grenades if you've got 'em!" Fynnis shouted.

Kay nodded in agreement and the two of them grabbed the explosives on their belts. Together they primed their grenades and threw them toward the cluster of guards before turning and sprinting after Will and Orassa. The four of them reached the door at the same time, only to find it locked. Fynnis quickly set to work on the lock and found it an easy hack, forcing it open in under ten seconds. They ran into the short hallway and through the next set of bay doors that opened to the crater. Will's eyes widened slightly as they stepped into the crater he had arrived in so long ago. The same place where Janson had assured him he would die. Then, his eyes fell on their getaway vehicle at the center of the crater.

The ship looked to be about the same length as the _Hyperion _had been, but clearly not of human make. The angular shape indicated the ship was of turian origin, perhaps an old military corvette long retired from service. It held a similar visual design to the turian frigates Will had seen during his visits to the Citadel, but was much shorter and stockier and with more inline wings. Of special note was the red and black color-blocked paint that adorned its gray hull, almost as though it was painted with the tribal markings that turians displayed on their faces. Kay sprinted ahead of the others and up to a door that was flush with the port side of the ship. She tapped a control panel beside it and the seams of the airlock began to hiss as the door slid open. The ship was clearly not designed to load and unload passengers without a proper dock, as the door itself was far enough off the ground that all four of the group were forced to jump up and pull themselves into the airlock. Will and Orassa ducked down as guards began pouring into the landing zone, only to have the airlock door slide shut before they could lay down any fire.

"Bypass the decon sequence," Kay ordered as she slid her rifle onto her back.

"Already on it," Fynnis replied as he tapped away at his omnitool.

The inner door pinged and slid apart to reveal a hallway that Kay and Fynnis jumped into without hesitation. The pair turned right and sprinted down the hall toward the stern of the ship where a set of stairs approximately twenty five meters away ascended to the left out and of sight. Will looked to Orassa, who was still collecting herself after the extreme biotic exertion, and was waved on by the asari. He nodded and ran to chase Kay and Fynnis as they headed up the stairs. The hallway was gray and black due only to the material used, but was well lit. He passed by a few doors on his left hand side as ran toward the stairs, which given their position toward the interior of the ship, had to be some of the compartments. Will was eager to explore the ship when they were not fleeing for their lives. He reached the stairway to see it angled up sharply and grabbed onto one of the handrails as he hurried up the steps to the upper level. As he reached the top he could see an identical stairwell directly in front of him that led back down, implying a symmetry to the ship's design. However, directly to his left and toward the bow of the ship was an open door to another passage with doors on either side. At the end of the hall, however, was a large room that was clearly the operations center for the ship.

As Will stepped into the operations room he made a quick visual sweep to see around eight crew positions on the walls that appeared to be long-dormant. At the very center of the room, however, was an enormous raised, oval surface with a holographic projection of a planet, presumably wherever they were now, floating at the center. Command consoles were lined around the oval centerpiece, all of which appeared to be dormant as well. Will looked to the front of the room to see that Kay and Fynnis had taken up positions in what could only be the cockpit, with a pilot and copilot's seat surrounded by holographic monitors and a large viewport facing the bow. Will hurried toward them and leaned on one of the seats as he looked out to see at least half of the ship extending out ahead of them, placing the cockpit somewhere near the top and center of the vessel. Given the ship's sleek and streamlined appearance, however, the relatively thin hull did not obscure much of the view. All of which was irrelevant, given that the pilot would not be using the viewports for navigate, he reminded himself.

"Been a while since I've pushed this thing out of atmo," Kay muttered to herself.

Fynnis gave her a sideways glance. "Does that mean you've forgotten?"

"Maybe," Kay said with a small laugh. "Let's find out."

The ship groaned as the belly and rear thrusters ignited and pushed against the gravity of the planet. The nose of the vessel began to lift ahead of the rest as the ship rose from the surface, and upon clearing the edge of the crater, blasted forward and into the sky.

"Message is away to the Alliance," Fynnis informed them. "They should have a response team here in a day or so."

"They'd better," Will said quietly.

Kay glanced over her shoulder as Will spoke, remembering that he was present. She turned back to the control console and tapped in a few commands before sitting back in the chair and letting out an exhausted sigh.

"I'll push this thing to FTL when we're a good distance from the planet. We're probably eight hours out from Hekate System and the relay."

She rested for a few seconds before spinning the chair around and lifting a leg up to cross over the other coolly as she looked to Will. He stepped back and raised his brows expectantly.

"Will Hume," she finally said while pushing herself to her feet. "I thought you were dead and gone."

"I could say the same for you." Will looked between Fynnis and Kay. "You two okay? Leaving Myyl down there?"

"We'll live. Definitely not the first person we've had to leave behind. Or second... or third." The turian continued to work at the console in front of him and shook his head. "He's only been with us for a few weeks. And like I said, he knew the risks that come with the job."

Kay nodded in solemn agreement before turning her eyes back to Will. She slowly stepped up to him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. She was barely an inch shorter than him. Will stared directly into her eyes and shook his head. She looked almost exactly like he remembered her from the last time he had seen her. Will closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them only to see her still staring back. He was still waiting to wake up at any second.

"We've got a lot to talk about," she admitted.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 6**

_**Independent Space Vessel Trueshot, Pamyat System**_

Will sat down at the table in the center of the _Trueshot_ crew's quarters and looked over to Orassa with weary eyes. They had been in space for nearly half an hour, but she had barely spoken since boarding the ship. The asari did not return his gaze and continued to stare down at the table between them with her lips pursed worriedly. To their side, on the starboard wall, the sound of a hissing pan droned while Kay tended to a cooking meal for her two guests. Fynnis had remained in the cockpit to monitor the systems as he set course for the nearest mass relay. Will had been correct in his initial hypothesis concerning the ship's layout, and had followed Kay down from the Operations Deck to the compartments at the center of the lower deck where the crew's quarters were located. They had intended to talk immediately, but the sight of the kitchenette had ignited an uncontrollable urge in Will's stomach.

"Hope you all like a quick veggie stir fry," Kay mentioned as she reached to turn off the burner.

"I don't know how long it's been since I've eaten something other than nutrient paste," Will said with a weak chuckle. "Stir fry sounds like the most incredible meal in the galaxy right now."

Kay grinned to herself as she scooped the food onto two plates and carried them to the table where they clattered to rest in front of Will and Orassa. The smell wafted into Will's nose and sent his eyes sinking shut in pleasure. All the vegetables were clearly flash-frozen at some point, but to him they might as well have been harvested two minutes earlier. Will opened his eyes and grabbed his fork, eagerly shoveling a floret of broccoli and chunk of carrot into his mouth. He desperately savored the flavor of the vegetables and sauce as he chewed and smiled wider than he had in months. Will looked up to see Orassa still staring down at the plate, motionless.

"Orassa, you okay?" He asked while reaching for his glass of, for once, clear water.

The asari closed her eyes shamefully. "We left them, William. We abandoned them with barely a moment's hesitation."

Will slowed his chewing and swallowed the bite in his mouth. He looked over to see Kay standing beside the table with her arms crossed and rolling her eyes.

"We didn't abandon them," Will countered slowly. "We disabled all the security and sent an urgent alert to the Alliance."

"We left them!" She shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "Like cowards!"

Silence fell over the three of them. Will and Orassa stared one another down as Kay shifted her eyes between the two, waiting for one to speak. After a few seconds, she cocked her hips to the side and cleared her throat.

"You think you'd be better off down there? I don't know if I'd suggest heading back," Kay said almost antagonistically.

"You've perfectly exemplified my quandary without even realizing it." Orassa turned and glared back at her. "Whether or not I'd be better off is completely irrelevant," she snapped. "My concerns are with the hundred or two others left at the mercy of a band of guards with no authority. The goddess knows what will happen to those people."

Kay averted her eyes. Will put his fork down and leaned forward slightly.

"Orassa... I understand," he admitted. "I didn't want to leave either. But we were given a chance to help them and ourselves at the same time. If Kay hadn't shown up we would have just attempted another escape in a few months. There's no guarantee that would have succeeded. And if we'd failed, we would probably have all been executed."

"That's not the point," the asari repeated. "We were in it _together. _We should have seen it though _together._"

"Together doesn't mean a damn thing if you're all _dead_," Kay asserted. "Who's gonna know you all stuck together if no one's left to tell them?"

Orassa shook her head and placed a palm over her eyes as a pair of tears escaped and began streaking down her cheeks. Will frowned and reached forward, placing a hand on her arm. She took in a deep breath and wiped the moisture from her eyes before opening them and looking back to him.

"We could have taken more," she said quietly.

Will shook his head. "That leaves fewer of them to fight back if the guards _do_ try something." He glanced to his side.

The asari spoke quietly. "If the Alliance hasn't responded and sent help within eight hours... I think you should take me back."

Kay gave her a bewildered look. "Are you insane? Lady, one of my people _died_ rescuing you two. I'm not going to just throw you back into the fire, completely outgunned, just because you've got some survivor's guilt." She shook her head and snorted. "The Alliance has teams for this. Those people will get their rescue."

Orassa frowned to herself. "Oh, goddess, I'm so sorry. I hadn't even thought about..." She drew in a deep breath to calm herself. "Thank you for risking yourselves to save us."

Kay let out sigh of relief. "Finally some damn recognition."

"And I wish I could give Myyl what he deserves," Orassa added quietly. "You're sure the Alliance will help them?"

"Listen, in my business it is very important to know how fast the Alliance, or Hegemony, or whatever is going to respond to illicit activity," Kay informed the two others. "They take this kind of stuff seriously. From what I've read, the Council is getting all huffy and puffy with the Alliance, tellin' them that colonizing in the Traverse is just asking for trouble. And just like human pride would dictate, the Alliance is doing its damnedest to prove that they're powerful and influential enough to handle themselves on the border of the Terminus."

Orassa looked back across the table to Will. "I can't help but think I've wronged them. They were all we had for so long."

"You heard Kay. They'll be alright," Will assured her. "And if the Alliance doesn't respond... we can hire a team to take that place down ourselves."

Kay seemed to show a slight bit of approval at the idea as she watched the two of them curiously. The asari turned her weary eyes back to the plate of cooling food in front of her. Will pull his arm back to his side and gave her small, encouraging smile.

"It's good. You should really eat," he said, hopefully.

Orassa nodded in reluctant agreement and lifted her fork to take her first bite. Will joined her and together they quickly consumed a good portion of their meals. After a minute or so, Will glanced over to Kay and sighed happily.

"Thanks for this, Kay. We haven't had real food for..." He trailed off and blinked. "Kay, what's the date?"

She pulled up her omnitool. "Human calendar? July 6th, 2180."

Will's grip on his fork loosened enough for it to clatter to the table as his eyes widened in disbelief. "Twenty-one _eighty?_" He repeated.

Kay gave him a small nod with a look of sympathy. "Yeah."

"God," he muttered quietly. "I was captured in January of '79. Over a year and a half of slavery.._._" Will trailed off as he stared at the table, trying to reconcile a year and a half missing from his life.

Kay nodded sympathetically before her face suddenly contorted in visual confusion. She looked between the two of them and narrowed her eyes to Will.

"Wait a second... a year and a half? Will, we were abducted from Arvuna _nine_ _years_ ago." She corrected him.

Will looked back to her, equally confused, until he realized the misunderstanding. He opened his mouth slowly as he attempted to form words.

"Kay, I wasn't abducted that night on Arvuna. Shansa and I escaped."

For the first time since Will had come face to face with her in the mine, Kay's expression changed from tough and confident to that of stunned vulnerability. Her lips parted just slightly and her brows lifted as she stared Will down in silence. Finally, after ten seconds of remaining almost frozen, she managed to speak.

"Shansa?" She asked quietly, her eyes growing wider. "Shansa's alive?"

Will hesitated briefly. "Well, she was still okay when I was abducted a year and a half ago. Obviously, I have no idea where she is now."

Kay began to breath noticeably quicker in excitement. "We have to contact her! The second we drop from FTL we'll connect to a comm buoy!"

Will smiled to himself. "That would be wonderful."

He secretly subdued his worries about the possibility of Cerberus continuing their hunt after he had destroyed their frigate. Kay looked to the side with a joyous smile on her face. Her eyes shifted from side to side as she lost herself in thought before finally recomposing herself enough to look back to Will.

"How did you avoid capture?" She managed to ask. "I thought they had rounded up the entire colony!"

"We had been out on one of the maintenance skiffs at the time," Will answered as he popped the last piece of food into his mouth and swallowed it down with a satisfied sigh. "I'll tell you all about that later though. I think you owe me some damn explanations first."

Kay's face straightened out and she nodded in agreement. "I guess that's fair enough. Hell, I don't even know where to start. It's a long, long story."

Will looked over to Orassa with an amused smirk before turning back to Kay. "Pretty sure we've got time."

Kay grinned softly. "True. I guess I'll start at the very beginning and give you the abridged version." She turned to the refrigerator. "But first, I need a damn beer."

"I guess it _has_ been one of those days," Will said with a small laugh.

Kay reached into the cooler and pulled out three cylindrical beverage containers. She turned around and slid the drinks onto the table while coming to sit in the chair at the end. Kay reached up and unscrewed the top of all three before sliding one to Will and Orassa. Will gladly accepted the drink while Orassa took it and smelled the drink curiously before shaking off her suspicion and downing a large gulp for her first taste.

Kay took a long swig and stared at the table as she recounted everything mentally. "I don't know how much you learned about the abduction after the fact, but I can tell you it was very thorough."

"I know a bit," Will answered. "And I know that only four members of the colony managed to escape, myself and Shansa included."

"That's four more than I thought," Kay mused bitterly. "Anyway, while we were being rounded up everyone was divided into groups that were being loaded into the three ships. My parents were separated from me then." Her voice softened. "That was the last time I ever saw them. I was put on a different ship from them shortly afterward, and I'd assumed you and Shansa were with a different group as well. The ship delivered us to a holding stations for a few weeks before me and a couple others were shipped off to a cheap-ass weapon factory where we were put to work assembling explosives. It was fucking brutal. I worked there for a year doing nothing but working on the assembly line until my fingers were bleeding every damn day."

"We know what that is like," Orassa said sympathetically.

Kay smirked and nodded. "Needless to say, I got pretty sick of it pretty fast. The whole time the guards would give me trouble for slacking or shrugging off the work, so I gave them trouble back. Honestly, I'm surprised they never did anything worse than throw a punch into my gut." She took a quick sip. "One day, after about a year of slaving there, I got so sick of the lip from this batarian cocksucker, Relgat, that I lost it and just went berserk on him." Kay looked up. "These guys didn't have any serious armor, mind you, and I started to kick his damn ass."

Will raised his brows while downing a sip of his beer. "I remember you were a damn good kickboxer in school."

"Damn straight I was," Kay boasted. "And Relgat was just some spacer chump who didn't know what the hell he was doing. Probably didn't even know how to use his gun correctly."

"I can't imagine that went well for him," Orassa surmised with a knowing smile.

"I kicked his ass. _Hard._ So much so that some other guards grabbed me and hauled me off to face the head of the security team. I was pretty sure that I was going to die that night," Kay admitted. "When I got to the office, the guards explained what happened to their security chief and asked what they should do with me. Before they got an answer, this turian woman who had been in the room listening pushed them aside so she could talk to me. She asked me, 'What the hell is wrong with you? Do you _want _to die?'" Kay grinned lightly. "I answered, 'No, but if you're going to keep me locked up in this warehouse for the rest of my life, I'd rather go out beating one of these idiots to death.'"

Will raised his brows. "I don't think I could have said that in the face of my own potential execution."

"Well I was in a pretty hopeless situation," Kay explained. "And I couldn't see any possibilities to get out and was honestly pretty damn ready to die. So the turian, Drasa was her name, she was pretty amused with my answer. Said that I had some bite in me. Turns out, Drasa was the captain of the gang's ship that they used for deliveries and all that." Kay raised her hands. "That ship being the _Trueshot_ here. She told me that I wouldn't have to work in the warehouse any longer and brought me on board."

"Wait, she let you onto her crew just like that?" Will asked, suspiciously.

Kay snorted and shook her head. "She didn't bring me on as part of the crew. I was still enslaved by the gang. I just got to work on the ship and do all the menial stuff like cleaning, cooking, gear maintenance, loading and unloading cargo. You know, the fun shit." She frowned lightly. "But the worst part was that we occasionally took contracts for slave trafficking. Had to load and unload people chained to the floor of the cargo bay sometimes. I hated it."

Orassa nodded with concern. "I can imagine so."

"When it was all said and done, I think I spent about two years as a slave on this ship. The entire time I was prohibited from contacting anyone outside of the _Trueshot_. No extranet, no comm transmitters, nothing. Once in a while one of the crew would leave a holopad on the table and I could sneak in some browsing."

Will gave her a quizzical look. "You didn't use them to call for help?"

"The first time I got hold of one I tried, but we weren't near a comm buoy." She sighed. "And then I learned that they monitored their comms closely. My attempted message was logged and Drasa gave me a hell of a talking to. But it didn't stop me from jumping on the opportunity to browse the extranet when I did get the chance. The last time that happened, around the two year mark, I was reading some news articles about the Alliance cracking down on the slave trade in the Traverse. In systems that we frequented, no less. So I told Drasa and explained that we would probably be much safer if we moved to exclusively smuggling guns and drugs." Kay shrugged and took a sip from her beer. "I just wanted to stop with the slave trafficking, but Drasa thought the idea had merit and followed through. A few days later... she asked me if I wanted to join the team. The _actual_ team. I was a little apprehensive at first, but _god_ did I want to be able to leave the ship. When she told me that I would get _paid_, it was a done deal."

"I'm surprised you didn't run the first chance you got," Will pointed it out.

Kay looked to the side and let out a troubled sigh. "It may sound strange... but I didn't want to. I didn't have anywhere to go and my shipmates had actually come to treat me well. They were basically the only family I had."

"It's not strange at all," Orassa assured her. "But why not look for your actual family?"

"I did!" She quickly objected. "I mean, on the extranet. But I never found anything. Plus, for a while I didn't have the credits to travel with even if I had found anything." Kay looked to Will. "It's interesting that no results ever came back for you or Shansa's ID numbers."

Will closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's probably because we relinquished our Human Colonial ID when Captain Nieto took us on board his ship. We were going to working in the Terminus, and its _much _easier to operate with an Independent Systems ID out there."

"Unfortunate," Orassa agreed. "So, you ended up sticking with the crew?"

Kay nodded. "That's right. They taught me how to use guns and all that for the situations that went south, and I was already pretty damn good at unarmed combat." She smiled nostalgically. "The next year and a half boiled down to mostly just proving myself an asset to the team. I think I did a pretty damn good job of it too. I don't mean to brag, but I could hold my own in a fight better than anyone else on that crew. Which is probably why Drasa asked me if I wanted to take over as second in command after the previous guy decided to leave the ship."

"Sounds like she almost took you under her wing," Will noted.

"She did. And I definitely trusted her. Hell, I practically _owed_ her for getting me out of that factory I was bought to work in. Plus, she needed someone who was capable of leading the crew in a fight, and I had proven myself damn capable of that." Kay took in a deep breath and sighed happily. "Those few years were amazing. Flying across the galaxy with the crew, leading them all on raids, helping Drasa broker smuggling deals..."

Orassa gave her a curious look. "Sounds like a dangerous life."

Kay downed the last of her drink. "Oh, it was. We lost some people along the way, but things never got completely out of control." She paused for a moment. "Well, until a little over a year go."

Will waited eagerly for her to continue as Kay drew in a deep breath.

"I won't bore you with the details, not now anyway, but we had a deal go bad. A deal _I _arranged." Will could see the pain in her eyes. "It left damn near everyone dead. Only people who made it out were me and Fynnis, who was just a rookie at the time. Well, us and our pilot, who was still back on the ship." She looked to Will and Orassa. "As second in command, I took over the ship. All of Drasa's security was setup to transfer to me in case of an emergency. For the first time, I had access to _everything._"

Will nodded. "So you took over and kept the business going?"

"Barely," Kay answered, shamefully. "I couldn't just pull on a bunch of mercs to fill out the ranks. I had to know I could trust them. So we had to stick to simple smuggling or even legitimate cargo hauling to stay afloat." She paused and looked to Will. "But, one of the things that was transferred to me when Drasa died was her database of intel. There was _tons_ of stuff in there. One category being shipping logs for past slave delivery manifests. She had so much that I quickly figured out that it wasn't just data from the _Trueshot_. Drasa collected every damn bit of intel she could whenever we pulled off a raid and cataloged it."

"Delivery manifests," Will repeated, beginning to understand. "Like the ones with you and your parents' names?"

Kay shook her head a tiny bit. "Sadly, no. Drasa's group hadn't led the raid on our colony. They just bought some of the score, like me. I never found anything about my parents in the files." She looked to Will and smiled. "Until one day, a few weeks ago, we were dealing with some Blue Suns and Fynnis was able to steal some of their records while we were there." Her eyes shifted up slightly to wherever Fynnis would be on the upper level of the ship. "The guy's great with the tech stuff. Anyway, I saw that one of the packets he stole was a slave shipping manifest. A quick scan through found a name and description that I thought was too good to be true: William Hume. It listed where you had been delivered, so I thought at the very least I could start looking there. Turns out you hadn't left."

"You found us by happenstance?" Orassa asked with a blink of her eyes.

"Well, I always look through these manifests when we stumble upon them. And we grab a lot just through the various databases we come across," Kay explained. "And it looks like it finally payed off."

"That's a hell of an understatement," Will said with a small laugh.

Kay's eyes shifted between Orassa and Will. "So now you know my bit. Now you have to tell me what happened to you and Shansa." She sat forward eagerly. "You said something about working in the Terminus? Captain Nieto or something?"

With a deep breath, Will began to recount his and Shansa's past nine years, starting with their survival of the abduction on Arvuna. After running through their years with Captain Nieto, his death, their time as the only crew on the _Hyperion_, their fight against Sommesh, the partnership with the two Spectres, and the ultimate resolution of their conflict with Cerberus, Will sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Then the Blue Suns dropped me off in that mine and... well, you pretty much know the rest," Will said with a small smirk.

Kay stared him down with a furrowed, doubtful brow and pursed lips. "You teamed up with two Spectres to hunt down a _third _Spectre, destroyed a rogue batarian black ops cell, and rammed your ship into a military frigate?"

Will shifted slightly. "Not all at the same time..."

"And Shansa's got _three_ bullet woulds in her chest?" Kay let out a surprised laugh. "I honestly can't tell if you're fucking with me."

"If he's lying, it has been consistent since we met," Orassa chimed in with a small grin.

Kay narrowed her eyes. "You must have been laughing your ass of when I asked if you knew how to use a pistol down there."

Will chuckled and nodded. "I didn't want to bring all this up then. There were slightly more pressing issues at hand."

Kay shook her head and stood up. "I don't even know what to... I need to get some sleep."

Will and Orassa rose with her and helped to bring the dishes to the washer in the kitchenette. Kay turned back to face them, at which point all three of them looked at each others clothing.

"I need to get out of this armor," Kay said to herself, clearly tired and ready for rest. "And you two need some clothes that aren't so damn destitute."

"That would be _greatly _appreciated," Orassa replied with a gleaming smile.

Kay pointed to a door on the aft end wall of the room. "The bunkroom is through there. Should be some clothes in one of the lockers. If not, come find me upstairs on the Operations Deck. My quarters are on the left before you get to the operations center."

Will took a step toward her. "Kay, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us."

He reached forward and put his arms around her to pull them into a tight hug. Kay hesitantly responded and returned the embrace for a moment before stepping back and smiling to herself.

"Willie, you don't have to thank me for a damn thing. The fact that you and Shansa are alive..." She shook her head. "I can't even believe it. Hopefully it'll finally hit me after I get some sleep."

She looked to Orassa and the two exchanged respectful nods before Kay headed through the forward end door and toward her quarters.

* * *

Will spent the next six hours relishing the freedom he had not experienced in so long. He took a hot shower in the refresher before pulling an old set of work clothes from one of the lockers and using them to replace his jumpsuit from the mines. After Orassa had done the same, the two of them quietly began to explore the ship. They found that the layout was quite simple, contrary to Will's initial suspicions. Aft of the crew's quarters and bunkroom was the engineering compartment where a large FTL core and small passageways to some of the internal mechanics could be found. At the front of the ship, however, was the large cargo bay that was at least the size of the _Hyperion_'s, possibly bigger. Unlike the _Hyperion,_ the _Trueshot_ was almost perfectly symmetrical, with parallel hallways running down the port and starboard sides of the ship on the outer walls of the crew's quarters, bunkroom and engineering compartments. It had matching personnel airlocks on either side while the cargo airlock was located at the very front of the cargo bay. Up the stairs at the aft end of the Crew Deck was, as Will had seen when they first boarded, the combat center and cockpit. At the aft end of the Operations Deck were two room that they concluded were the Captain's and XO's offices and quarters. Eventually, Kay emerged from her quarters in a set of casual clothes and found Will and Orassa in the crew's quarters resting. She brought them up to the cockpit where Fynnis had recently brought them out of FTL and was preparing to connect to a comm buoy.

"I'm guessing you don't have your omnitool records to draw from for the call," Fynnis remarked sarcastically.

"Believe it or not, they seized my omnitool at some point during my year and a half long enslavement," Will replied dryly. "But I remember two ID numbers: Shansa's and Eleena's."

Kay gave him a curious look. "Eleena? Your engineer?" She asked, recalling Will's stories of his crew.

Will nodded and stepped up to the communications console. "That's right."

"We're patched in," Fynnis informed them. "Go for it."

Will drew in a deep breath and tapped in the fifteen digit ID code for Shansa. He waited patiently as it searched for a moment before returning a red error reading "Null." He frowned and reentered the code carefully, only to be met with the same response. Kay's eyes darted to the others nervously. Will then tried Eleena's code, but was met once, twice and a third time with the same error. He shook his head and stepped back from the console.

"That... that doesn't make sense," he said slowly. "Why would it return null?"

"Is it possible that your attempt to deter Cerberus failed?" Orassa suggested cautiously.

"No... no, I'd get a different error if the ID owner was deceased," Will answered.

Fynnis looked over his shoulder. "A return of null only means one thing: the ID doesn't exist on the database."

"It has to," Will argued. "I_ know_ these numbers are correct."

"Just because they existed before does not mean they still do," Kay asserted. "If you get yourself permanently removed from the ID network your number is retired too, just in case you ever need to reactivate."

Will crossed his arms. "So they intentionally removed themselves from the ID network. I wonder if they took Kallux's advice," he pondered aloud. "Before we attacked Cerberus for the final time, he suggested we lose our identities and lay low. Maybe they did so out of caution or safety."

"A reasonable guess," Orassa agreed. "But it would make more sense if you knew for certain. Perhaps you can ask your friend and see if they made contact with him before deleting their ID?"

Will shook his head immediately. "I'm not going to Kallux. There are others who would know." He looked to Kay. "Would you be willing to take us to Omega? I've got my records backed up in a safety deposit box there. I can download them to a new omnitool and look for the rest of my crew that way."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Kay answered. "Fynnis, get us on course."

The turian turned back to the nav console. "On it."

Will stared worriedly at the communications console as Kay put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find them," she assured him. "I won't come this close to seeing my sister again and just walk away."

He smiled softly and looked over with a thankful nod. "Thanks, Kay."

"Course is plotted, we'll be at the relay in about ten minutes," Fynnis informed everyone.

Will took in a deep breath. "Good. We've got a lot more reunions ahead of us."

* * *

**Author's Note**

While writing this chapter I realized it might be hard to visualize the interior of the _Trueshot._So I drew up a hilariously bad MS Paint map of the _Trueshot_'s layout, which can be found on my author page. I beg you, please do not judge my artistic skills.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 7**

_**ISV Trueshot, en route to Omega, Sahrabarik System**_

Will stood with his arms crossed as he stared out the cockpit viewport, his mind completely lost in thought. Being on a ship after so long would take some getting used to, but being on a ship that wasn't the _Hyperion_ might take even longer. He frowned softly as he thought back to the ship's last moments. After the crash, the abduction and being enslaved for years, he had spent most of his time worrying about this own safety and the fate of his crew. He hadn't had much time to mourn the _Hyperion_ itself. He shifted uneasily and tried to steer his mind toward another subject. Will glanced down toward the pilot's seat where Fynnis sat with a foot propped up on one of the consoles. The turian was clearly not focused on the ship at the moment as he looked through what appeared to be a cached set of news reports that he had picked up when they hit the comm buoy.

"Anything interesting?" Will said after gently clearing his throat.

The turian shook his head slowly. "Not to me."

Will took a step forward and sat down into the copilot's seat. "This is a nice ship. Older, but nice."

Fynnis continued to scan his monitor. "Mmmhm."

Will eyed him closely. He wasn't sure if the turian was intentionally trying to get him to leave or legitimately distracted.

"So what's your deal, Fynnis?"

The turian reached over and tapped his screen to deactivate it before turning back to face Will. "Think you could phrase that a little more vaguely?"

Will grinned slightly. "A smart-ass, huh? I see how it is."

"I've been called a lot of things," Fynnis said as he lifted his other foot up to rest with his first. "Smart-ass is probably among the most flattering." He looked to the side. "Maybe least insulting would be more accurate."

"Then allow me to rephrase that," Will began as he sat up. "How'd you end up on this ship with Kay? What's it like working with her?"

The turian's eyes looked Will over suspiciously before he reluctantly responded. "I joined the crew a few years ago when I saw a job posting for a tech specialist. Figured it would be more fun than hacking bank terminals on Omega."

"So you're the tech guy on the crew. What's your specialty?" Will inquired.

"I'm a generalist, really. Bit of comp tech, but I can also find my way around starship engineering if needed. I like to make myself useful when I can."

"And you're the helmsman as well?" Will raised a brow.

"No, not initially," Fynnis replied with a small laugh. "Our pilot survived the clusterfuck that killed most of the _Trueshot_ crew. It was just me, Kay and our pilot for a while. He left a few months ago."

"Why's that?"

"We haven't exactly been making a fortune the past year or two. Probably thought he could do better elsewhere." The turian shrugged dismissively. "I didn't really care to find out."

Will crossed his arms. "So you've taken over as pilot since then?"

"Kay and I split the time flying. Myyl was actually supposed to take over as the helmsman," Fynnis said with a sigh of annoyance. "So much for that plan." The turian hesitated for a moment before nodding to Will. "Kay said you were a merc for a while. Do any piloting yourself?"

Will hid his satisfaction that Fynnis had warmed up to the conversation. "No flying personally. But yeah, I guess you could say my crew and I were mercs. We were actually part of a group that specialized in... well, revenge mostly."

Fynnis fluttered his mandibles in surprise. "Revenge? You've gotta give me more than that."

"Ever heard of the Red Moon Collective? It's a group of mercenaries who focus on taking contracts from those who have been wronged in some way. Usually by the bigger gangs." Will shook his head. "But the morality of the whole thing got a little blurred after a while."

The turian chuckled and raised a finger questioningly. "So you were trying to play the good guys or something?"

"Something like that," Will admitted.

"If there's one thing I've learned it's that the good guys don't last long in the Terminus Systems," Fynnis said flatly. "It pays too low and you've got too many enemies."

"It worked fine when the RMC was just a network of a few dozen people, but when we decided to organize?" Will let out a defeated sigh. "We just started bringing unnecessary attention to ourselves. All while my crew and I got shafted left and right."

"I'm sensing you had a tiny bit of a falling out with this organization," Fynnis said with narrowed eyes and a sarcastic tone.

"With their leadership, mainly. Which I was a part of, funnily enough." Will sat back in his seat. "I was kind of getting sour on the whole thing for a while."

The turian nodded and looked back to his flight controls. He tapped in a few commands before glancing over and clearing his throat.

"What do you plan to do after we find your friends?" He asked, for the first time sounding genuinely interested.

Will looked out one of the viewports and shrugged. "I don't know. Right now I'm just hoping they're all still alive."

"Pardon me, am I interrupting?" Orassa's voice asked from behind the cockpit.

Will and Fynnis both turned and looked over their seats to see the asari standing with her arms crossed formally behind her back. She was wearing a set of casual clothes that clearly belonged to Kay. The asari was much smaller than her and Kay was already a taller than average woman, but both Orassa and Will were more than eager to rid themselves of the jumpsuits they had escaped in. This left Orassa to graciously accept the baggy shirt and pants that she had been offered. Will smiled and shook his head.

"Not at all. You feeling okay?"

Orassa gave him a hesitant nod. "For now. It's still taking some getting used to." She looked around her. "Being outside of that cave, that is."

"Believe me, I know," Will said with a small laugh.

"Our course is set for Omega, yes?" The asari asked.

"That's right," Fynnis said as he looked back to the nav console. "Just an hour or two away now."

Orassa motioned over her shoulder. "William, could I speak to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Will replied as he pulled himself up.

Fynnis watched Will stand and turned back to his console to resume his reading. Orassa led Will to the back of the operations deck and down the stairs, finally coming to a stop after they had entered the crew's quarters. She looked to him with reluctant eyes as she began to speak.

"I just wanted to let you know that I will be leaving on civilian transport when we reach Omega," she informed him with more than a hint of sadness in her tone.

Will frowned softly, feeling a tinge of abandonment. "Why? Where are you going?"

Orassa chuckled lightly in surprise. "William, I have a family on Thessia that I must return to. For all I know, they think I have been dead for three years."

Will covered his eyes with his palm. "God, I can't believe I had to ask." He took a deep, cleansing breath and smiled encouragingly as he lowered his hand. "You deserve more than a cheap ride to Thessia. I'll ask Kay if we can fly you there on the _Trueshot._"

The asari quickly raised a hand in objection. "I have my loved ones to return to, but you have the much more difficult task of _finding_ yours. I could not distract you from that for even a day."

"Oh come on, you're not going to be distracting me from anything. You're important to me," he argued. "I wouldn't have made it as long as I did without you to pick me up whenever I was falling."

"William," she said with a stern pause, "I did not bring this up to negotiate."

Will crossed his arms. "Are you sure?"

Orassa smiled and stepped forward to give him a gentle hug. "Your intentions are sweet, but I will be _fine._ I assure you." She leaned back and rested a hand on his shoulder. "And I'll stay in touch, I promise."

"Good. I might need a pep talk once in a while if this search takes too long," Will admitted. "I don't know what the status of our ID will be after a few years of inactivity, but we can get some temporary codes when we pick up new omnitools on Omega."

"Whenever you need me, I will answer," she replied. "Through the hardships, the ups and mostly downs, you have been a true friend, William."

"You too, Orassa."

* * *

"Damn, it's been a long time." Will took in a deep breath. "Never thought I'd miss the stale, putrid air of Omega."

Will stood with his hands firmly on his hips as he looked down at the marketplace with Kay standing at his side. Orassa and Fynnis emerged from the docking bay airlock a moment later and joined them at the railing of the balcony.

"Always hated this place," Kay muttered.

Orassa looked over to the woman in surprise. "I don't know much about Omega, but what I've heard makes it sound as though it is a mercenary's dream. You disagree?"

"The gangs control too much of the economy for independent crews to really make something for themselves," Fynnis explained. "It's why we stick to the Traverse and less-trafficked Terminus worlds."

Will smirked. "And it sounds like that has been working out great for you, huh?"

"Hey, we were doing fine when we had more than a skeleton crew," Kay argued curtly. "We'll get back on our feet."

Will's eyes continued to float around the marketplace, hoping that by some chance he would see Shansa or Eleena shopping in a stall. After a few seconds of silence he turned to Orassa.

"Do you want to find a transport service?"

The asari smiled at the offer. "I contacted my family as soon as we were in range of the extranet probes. I have already booked passage on a flight to Thessia using some credits they transferred to me." Her thoughts were clearly beginning to drift away from their present situation. "They will be waiting to meet me at the spaceport." Orassa blinked and looked back to Will. "The ship does not leave for another six hours, however."

"Then let's find this deposit box," Kay firmly decided. "Where to, Willie?"

Will gave her a sideways glance. "Kay, you _know_ that I hate it when you call me that."

The woman grinned slyly. "Why do you think I'm doing it?"

"Uggh. It's at a security center in the Tilno District," Will said begrudgingly. "Follow me."

The three others fell into position behind and beside Will as he guided them down from the cargo level to the market floor. Will knew precisely where they were and that the walk would only take a few minutes, leaving him to forgo the option of a cab. He took a quick glance at his companions to see Orassa looking about curiously, her eyes darting around the market. Kay was also looking around, but was clearly doing so to stay alert. It was obvious that neither of them were frequent visitors of Omega, but both seemed sure of what to do in the new environment. Fynnis, on the other hand, looked right at home. His stature was calm and collected as he strode beside Will with a cool walk. Will recalled the turian mentioning hacking bank terminals on Omega and presumed that he had spent a significant amount of time on the station.

"I must admit, this is nicer than I was anticipating," Orassa commented offhandedly. "Well, if one excuses the smell, of course."

"I can't believe you've never been here," Kay said with a laugh. "We avoid it like the plague and we still end up here at least once or twice a year. You said you were what, nine hundred years old?"

"Roughly," the asari said with a small smile.

"And you _never_ found yourself on Omega," Fynnis reiterated.

Orassa shook her head. "I've flown through the system countless times. I've been on ships that have docked here for supplies or fuel. But I've never set foot on the station itself."

Will gave her a curious look. "Why not?"

The asari pondered the question for a moment before glancing back to him. "I suppose I was scared due to what I had heard about it. Perhaps I felt it was not dignified enough for my attention." She shifted her eyes downward. "Looking back, it was quite arrogant of me. I believe those mines might have taught some humility without me even realizing it."

"Must've done so before I showed up," Will noted. "You've never been arrogant or judgmental in the year and a half we've known each other."

"As I'm sure you're aware, being enslaved and forced to do menial tasks for over three years gives one a lot of time to reflect on their past," she reminded him.

"Damn, sounds like I need to get myself enslaved," Fynnis remarked jokingly. "I mean, it's worked out great for you three."

Kay, Orassa and Will gave him an unamused stare.

"I'm having trouble remembering all the good that came from losing a _year and a half_ of my life and everything I knew," Will countered bitingly.

Fynnis rolled his eyes. "Calm down, I was joking."

"The wounds are fresh," Kay reminded all of them. "No don't need to poke them, Fyn. Hell, I was pretty emotionally unstable for years, even after Drasa officially terminated my slavery."

The group fell silent as Will continued to lead them onward for the next few minutes. He turned down a street and nodded ahead to a relatively blank looking building on a nearly empty street.

"This is the building," he informed them. "They might have to run a quick scan to confirm I'm actually me."

"I would _hope_ that they have some security," Kay snorted.

Will came to a stop in front of the door and spun to face the others. "Just wait here. I'll be quick."

He turned back to the door and tapped on the panel at the center, allowing it to slide open and reveal the lobby of the discrete security center. Will stepped inside the well lit but sparsely decorated office and nodded in welcome to a man sitting behind a counter. The counter was completely blocked by thick glass and had only a few metal retracting doors that would allow the passage of goods between the two sides. Will placed his hands on the counter and leaned forward.

"I'd like to pick up a hard copy of the data I have in my deposit box," he stated.

The human looked to a terminal beside him. "Name?"

"William Hume," Will replied.

The man swiped through a few menus. "I'll need to run a bio-scan to verify your identity."

Will stepped back from the counter and turned to face a small sensor on the wall nearby. He had gone through with this procedure multiple times here already. Seeing that Will was already in position when he looked up, the guard tapped the command to initialize the scan and returned to his screen. After a brief thirty seconds the scanner chimed approvingly.

"Alright, you're clear," the man informed Will. "Data chip will suffice?"

"Sure," Will answered.

The man behind the counter rose to his feet and stepped up to a terminal on the far wall. He grabbed a blank holographic data chip from a bin on the desk and held it up as the terminal deposited his requested information. A few seconds later the man grabbed a plastic envelop and slid the chip inside before returning to the counter and placing it in front of the tiny access hatch. The small door slid open, allowing Will to grab the envelope and nod in thanks to the attendant. A few seconds later Will had emerged from the building with the envelope placed in the breast pocket of his shirt, leaving just enough sticking out so that he could glance down at any moment to ensure himself that it was still on his person. Orassa, Kay and Fynnis, who appeared to have been idly chatting, turned to face him as he appeared.

"That was quick," Fynnis mused. "This place must be _really_ secure."

Will smirked. "They did a bio-scan." He looked down the street and sighed. "We should head to the markets so Orassa and I can buy omnitools. But first I need to find a bank terminal and see if I can still access my accounts."

"Lead on," Kay declared.

Will started off down the street once again and looked down as he sought to remember the layout of the market. If he remembered correctly there was a bank terminal two blocks up that would accept personal ID for a login. He turned down a smaller, intersecting street and looked back to see the others right behind him. However, just behind them, he could see a human eying the group and keeping at about the same pace. Will looked back ahead and he felt himself tense as a pair of batarians that had been casually leaning against a hall abruptly step out in front of the group with a pair of pistols drawn. Will, Orassa, Kay and Fynnis all came to a quick stop and watched as the human that had been tailing them ran around the group to join with the batarians.

"They just came out of the depository?" One of the batarians asked.

The human grunted. "I said that when I radioed in, didn't I?"

The second batarian held his weapon up and scanned the four. "And what did they leave with?"

"An envelope," the human replied. "Gotta be a credit chit or jewelry or somethin'."

Will had raised his hands slightly in defense. "I hate to burst your bubble-"

"Shut it," the first batarian snapped as he shoved the barrel of his pistol into Will's chest. "Give us the chit and we'll let you all walk away without a few bullets inside you."

"I don't have a fucking chit," Will answered slowly with narrowed eyes.

As one of the batarians turned to speak to the other, Will could see Kay glance over to Fynnis and nod. Within a second, the turian had prepared himself and nodded in response before the pair jumped into action. Kay reeled back and pulled in her arms as her leg shot out and slammed into the first batarian's chest. With his balance thrown off, the barrel pistol that was shoved into Will's chest tilted up and clearly out of an angle of attack. In perfect unison, Fynnis had drawn his pistol at his waist and unloaded a pair of shots into the second batarian, one striking him clear through the head, before switching targets and hitting the other with a trio of bullets. One fell to the ground, dead instantly, while the other stumbled back from Kay's kick and bullet woulds and tumbled to the ground. They turned their attention to the human who was reaching for his gun.

"Don't even think about it!" Will shouted.

The man froze with his pistol raised half-way up and stared Will down.

"Drop it!" Will ordered again.

The man hesitated for a second longer than he should have. With his hand still gripping the gun that was pointed toward the ground, Kay lunged forward. Her arms wrapped around his neck as the man dropped the pistol involuntarily and attempted to push Kay away from him. Before he could, she twisted his neck fiercely, snapping it instantly.

"Fuck!" Will's eyes widened in shock. "Kay, what the hell?!"

She panted as adrenaline surged through her veins. "He hesitated," she said through heavy breaths. "Two of us are unarmed and unarmored. Couldn't give him the chance."

"He'd stopped!" Will objected adamantly. "He was about to drop the damn gun!"

Kay stepped back and looked over her shoulder. "He hadn't moved and inch, Willie. He could have been formulating an order of attack."

"You still had the jump on him," Will argued intently as he stepped up to face her. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"So he could hold up and possibly kill someone else?" Kay snapped back. "The less people in the galaxy trying to kill me the better."

"And what about rehabilitation?" Will asked with narrowed eyes.

Kay laughed at the thought. "Who the fuck do you think is going to rehabilitate criminals on _Omega?_ I actually try to live by the rules of _reality_, Will. 'Cause in here the Terminus and especially Omega, laws are whatever you want them to be and real justice is as thin as it comes."

"A-hem," Fynnis interrupted. "As _enthralling_ as this debate is, and believe me, it's damn engrossing, I feel I should point out that this guy is still alive."

He pointed down to one of the batarians that he had shot. The thug was bleeding and whimpering quietly to himself as his two accomplices lay dead on either side of him. Kay and Will looked down at the batarian as Fynnis and Orassa came to stand beside them.

"Rggh! Just call a med-center and let's go," Kay ordered to Fynnis.

Will would have objected to leaving the man in the street, but the batarian had been shoving the barrel of a pistol into his chest when Kay jumped him. He could live with letting him sit here for a little while.

"Done," Fynnis replied as he tapped away at his omnitool.

Kay looked to Will expectantly. "Well?"

Will stared down at the three thugs, two dead and one wounded. He tore his eyes away and quickly stepped past them as he led the group onward down the alley and toward the streets ahead.

* * *

After visiting a banking terminal and finding that Will's account was closed, Kay had offered a small sum of credits to pay for Will and Orassa's omnitool replacements. They picked up pair of cheap tools from the markets and made their way to a place that Will secretly hoped he would find his crew: Discharge. As they entered the bar he looked around hopefully, but saw only strangers. The group of four headed to one of the back tables and sat themselves as Will pulled the envelope from his shirt pocket. He opened the top and pulled out the small data device as Kay waved over the waitress.

"Get me a beer," she requested as the waitress approached. "Something cheap. Whatever you've got is fine."

The asari waitress nodded and looked to the others. "Anyone else?"

With no responses, the waitress turned for the bar. Will activated his new omnitool and held it over the holographic storage chip.

"So what exactly is stored on this thing?" Fynnis asked.

"I backed up the contents of my omnitool at this place once every few months," Will explained. "I'm kinda paranoid about data loss."

The omnitool blipped to indicate the transfer of data had completed. Will took a deep breath and began to cycle through the menu.

"It's all here," he said with a thankful sigh. "Alright, contact ID..."

The waitress returned and set a glass in front of Kay. She grabbed the drink and downed a few sips as she and the others watched Will patiently.

"Here we go," Will narrated as he opened up his contacts. "Shansa and Eleena... 'ID numbers do not exist.'" He looked around the group and nodded. "So I _did _remember them correctly."

"And the others?" Orassa asked hopefully.

Will looked back down. "Tul'Sorrin... inactive but still on record. T'lees... nothing, just like Eleena and Shansa." He frowned and shook his head. "I hadn't backed this up at any point after meeting Welkinn or Ralliston, but Welk is dead and Ralliston... well, let's just say he might be the reason I was in that mine in the first place."

"You had other crewmates though," Orassa reminded him. "You've told me about them."

"Kallux... that's a last resort," he said spitefully. "Other than that, there's Tyrixis and Vayren. I haven't been in contact with Tyrixis since we took down Narenthus Antarian over two years ago. And Vayren is a damned _Spectre_. He doesn't have time for me."

"What about friends outside the crew?" Fynnis asked.

"I don't really have any," Will admitted. "I spent most of my time underway, and when we were in port it was mainly for RMC business or resupplying."

"It couldn't hurt to try Tyrixis or Vayren," Kay suggested. "I mean what are they gonna do if you make 'em mad? Make you disappear?" She chuckled at her own joke.

"Ha ha," Will answered flatly. "Alright, I'll try Tyrixis." He shook his head after attempting to establish a connection. "Inactive. But Vayren..." Will raised his brows. "It says 'Ready to connect.'"

Kay took a sip of her beer and grinned excitedly. "I like where this is goin'."

Will quickly looked around the table before sending a request to the Spectre. The light blinked as "Pending" for nearly twenty seconds before a voice spoke through the tiny speaker on his bracelet.

"_Captain William Hume," _the voice announced. _"It's been a while, hasn't it?"_

The sound of the salarian's voice brought a small smile to Will's lips.

"You could say that," he answered. "Though it's not 'Captain' anymore. That title went out the window when the _Hyperion_ was destroyed."

"_I... see. It sounds as though you have had an interesting couple of years," _Vayren said slowly.

"Unfortunately," Will admitted. "Vayren... I don't mean to overstep the boundaries of our friendship, but I could use some help."

The Spectre paused momentarily. _"Help? Information or...?"_

"Information," he quickly answered.

"_Yes, alright. I'm currently wrapping up some business on Yamm, if you could meet me here I'll do what I can," _Vayren said, almost as though he was being purposefully vague.

Will looked up to see the three others still listening intently. "Yamm? Do you really need me there? I just need some data access... maybe some security clearance or back doors into the banking system..."

The salarian chuckled. _"Do you really think I would send that over the public info network out here in the Terminus Systems? No, we should do this in person, Captai-, er, Hume. I need to be able to verify the security personally."_

Will looked up to Kay and raised his brows as if to ask for her thoughts. She took a sip from her beer and shrugged with a nonchalant nod.

"Alright, we'll be there in a day or two," Will finally answered.

"_Good. And I'm... looking forward to seeing the rest of the team again,"_ he said with a hint of what sounded like embarrassment.

"Sadly, they won't be with me," Will informed him. "In fact, I'm counting on _you_ to help me find them."

There was a short pause before Vayren responded. _"Well, color me thoroughly intrigued. I'll forward you the coordinates of a place we can meet. Vayren out."_


	8. Chapter 8

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 8**

_**Sahrabarik Departure Terminal, Port 2, Omega**_

"Passengers in seating area D! That's seating area D!"

"That's me," Orassa said to Will.

A group was already forming around the attendant that was monitoring the security systems and allowing passengers to board.

"Any... any stops between here and Thessia?" Will asked.

He had never been good with goodbyes.

"No, it's a direct route," Orassa answered with a small smile.

Will nodded approvingly and cleared his throat. "Right, well. I probably shouldn't keep you."

The asari stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He sighed and returned the comforting embrace before the two parted and looked to one another with bittersweet smiles.

"I guess you were right after all," Will said with a small laugh. "About getting out of that place."

"Confidence is a powerful tool," Orassa chimed with a wink.

"Confidence or blind faith?" Will teased.

The asari shook her head. "Please do stay in touch, William."

He shifted his weight. "I will. Promise. Now hurry up and get on that damn transport. Your family's waiting."

Orassa smiled warmly and took a deep breath. "Goodbye, William. And I pray to the goddess that you find your loved ones soon."

Will watched as the asari turned and walked gracefully to the gate attendant where she scanned her omnitool and was pointed to the boarding tunnel. His eyes shifted to the viewport where he could see the older, asari-made transport ship idling in its berth as dozens more passengers loaded in. Will could hear footsteps growing louder behind him that silenced as two figures came to a stop to his left and right, staring through the window with him.

"She seemed like a nice gal," Fynnis said as he stood to Will's right.

"Maybe a little idealistic, but hey, it's not like she's from around here so I guess I can forgive it," Kay added as she looked over to Will with a suggestively raised brow. "So, were you two 'bunkmates' back in the mines or what?"

Will, who had been looking out the viewport with a sad smile, blinked and glanced to Kay with a look of absurd dismissal. "Uggh, no! We were friends, for fuck's sake."

"Not friends for _fucking's _sake?" Kay jabbed with a grin.

He rolled his eyes with an irritated groan and turned for the exit. Fynnis did his best to hold back a laugh as Kay quickly hurried after him.

"Willie! Will, it was a _joke,_" she said with a snort of amusement.

Will let out a deep sigh and slowed down as he neared the door. Kay and Fynnis caught up with him as they stepped out into the street. She glanced over to the turian as they followed behind Will and was given a disapproving head shake as Fynnis tried to prevent her from prodding further.

"Damn it, I'm sorry, okay?" Kay finally relented.

"It's fine," Will replied quietly. "I'm just not great with goodbyes."

The three of them came to a stop at the taxi terminal and waited as a cab was hailed. Kay opened her mouth to say something else, but decided against it and bit her lip as they three of them waited in silence for the taxi to arrive.

* * *

"I've got a course plotted for Yamm, should be there in under a day," Fynnis announced.

Kay stood behind the pilot's seat with her arms crossed. "Good. I need some time to recalibrate my armor's shield network. Something got fucked up while we were down in those mines."

Will was leaning against the large table at the center of the operations center as he watched the two of them observantly. He had been listening closely since the _Trueshot _had left its berth on Omega and the two of them had displayed a great rapport. They reminded Will of the years when he and Shansa were the only crew members of the _Hyperion._ Kay looked over her shoulder to where Will stood and nodded to get his attention.

"You sure this guy will play ball?" She asked, clearly suspicious.

"I've got no reason to believe he won't," Will answered simply. "He's been there to help me in the past."

"Call me paranoid, but it does seem a little to good to believe," Fynnis chimed in. "I mean, a Spectre? But if you've got a past that you can lean on..."

"He'll help us. Or at least, he'll help me," Will assured them.

With the flight path locked in for the next few hours, Fynnis rose to his feet and stretched.

"Up for a few rounds?" He asked while rolling his shoulders.

Kay gave him a mischievous grin. "You want your ass kicked against so soon?"

"Practice makes... well, perfection is a long way off," Fynnis said to himself. "Let's say, competence?"

"I guess I can spare an hour or two before I dig into my armor," Kay decided. "Will, you care to join us?"

He raised a brow. "What exactly would I be joining in?"

Kay and Fynnis walked from the cockpit and past Will as they made their way to the stairs. Will hurried to catch up with them as they descended to the lower deck and into the port side hallway.

"Just some hand to hand sparring," Kay answered. "Being able to beat the hell out of someone with your fists is a damn useful skill."

"Right now I just want to be able to last more than twenty seconds against her," Fynnis mumbled.

Will smirked lightly. "She could kick my ass when we were kids. I wouldn't feel bad if I were you."

The turian laughed. "Oh, believe me, I don't. I've got no problem admitting when someone outclasses me. But if we're ever in a situation where all we've got are our fists, I don't want to be a liability."

The three of them reached the end of the hall and passed through the wide door of the cargo bay. Will came to a stop a few steps in and watched as Kay walked to a locker on the wall and pulled out a huge roll of worn, battered mats. Fynnis grabbed a second roll and the two of them quickly set out the padding at the center of the room.

"You know much about martial combat, Will?" Kay asked as she stepped away from the mat.

"Nope," Will answered with an amused smile. "I can throw a punch in a bar fight, but that's about it."

Having already removed their armor from the outing on Omega, Kay and Fynnis removed their jackets and tossed them to the side.

"I'm not an expert," Kay informed him. "And I _know_ that I don't fight with any correct discipline, not since my last kickboxing class anyway. But I can show you how to throw a punch, kick or block a hit if you want."

Will nodded and took a few steps toward the mat as Kay and Fynnis stepped on and faced one another.

"I prefer to stay behind the sights of a rifle, but I guess it doesn't hurt to know," he answered.

Kay grinned and raised her fists as Fynnis did the same. She shifted her weight back and forth on her feet in tight rhythm as the two stared each other down. After a few seconds to sizing each other up, Kay jolted forward with a hard right-hook that Fynnis managed to block with this arm while side-stepping away. The turian and human quickly began to circle one another, waiting for the other to make the next move.

"You're gonna have to come at me eventually," Kay reminded Fynnis as she breathed heavily from excitement.

Fynnis narrowed his eyes and lunged forward with a punch aimed at Kay's jaw. Unfortunately, she effortlessly ducked the attack by dropping and spinning while bringing out a leg. The sweep caught him in the calf and dropped the turian to the ground with a thud. Kay sprung back up to her ready position briefly before relaxing and holding out a helping hand. Fynnis shook his head and grabbed the hand, pulling himself up with a small grunt.

"One day you'll hit me," she said patronizingly.

Fynnis waved a hand dismissively. "If I actually practiced for hours on end like you do-"

"But you don't!" Kay interrupted with an amicable smack to his shoulder. "I ain't complaining though. As long as you can hack the doors and security terminals I'm happy."

Will, who had been watching from the side, raised a brow challengingly. "So you're saying you don't mind being without a decent sparring partner?" He took a step forward and loosened his joints. "Scared someone might actually be able to get a hit on you if they try long enough?"

Kay eyed Will for a moment before grinning at the insinuation. "I don't want anyone wasting their time on the impossible," she shot back.

Fynnis stepped off the mat as Will took his place.

"Hah! Alright, let's give it a shot," Will said challengingly.

Will had never been a fan of fighting with his hands. The most he had done in actual defense was throw a few punches when someone tried to rough him up in a bar. But he knew that Kay lived for challenges and competition when they were kids, and that hadn't seemed to have changed. He was eager to get to know her again.

"You ready?" She asked with determined eyes.

"Damn straight I am," he answered.

Kay immediately took a few slow steps toward Will before coming to a stop just outside an arm's length. Will made a false-start forward, causing Kay to lift her arms in defense just slightly. She laughed and bared her teeth at the attempt to scare her and shouted as she sent a high kick toward Will's chest. He ducked back as quickly as he could, barely dodging her foot, and stumbled slightly to keep his balance. Seeing an opportunity, Kay jumped forward and swung at Will's jaw, only for it to be blocked by Will's forearm as he swung his right hand back in retaliation. Kay ducked the attack easily and threw a hard punch into Will's gut. He coughed and dropped to his knees with eyes wide from the unexpected hit.

"Damn, is that it?" Kay taunted as she took in a deep breath and exhaled. "I mean, I was holding back pretty hard and you still went down in less than ten seconds!"

Will laughed as he regained his breath and pushed himself up. "I know who I'm going to count on to have my back in a bar fight from now on," he complimented.

Kay smiled and gave him a pat on the back. "I've got an idea. Why don't you and Fynnis take each other on and I'll give you two some pointers."

Fynnis nodded in consideration. "Sounds a lot more reasonable to me."

Will took in a deep breath as he finished recovering and waved the turian over. "Absolutely."

The turian flared his mandibles. "I should probably warn you... turian skin is not fun to hit."

"Noted," Will smirked. "I'll aim for the parts with the least amount of... leather."

* * *

Landing on Yamm had brought back Will's memories of assaulting Narenthus Antarian's estate well over two years earlier. This visit, however, was during the dead of night. The planet had nearly a seventy hour day length, which made day and night nearly irrelevant to the way business was conducted in the colony's capital of New Karnak. The colony was only ten years old, and it showed in the very homogeneous construction of buildings and prefab units that made up the bulk of the capital. Will, Kay and Fynnis had landed and disembarked as quickly as possible, knowing that Will had already set a specific meeting time with Vayren that was rapidly approaching.

"You sure this is the right way?" Fynnis asked with more than a hint of skepticism.

Will chuckled and shrugged. "Unless this map is wrong, I'm pretty sure we're headed in the right direction."

The streets of the city were eerily repetitive, but laid out in an easy to navigate grid. Will glanced down to his omnitool to double check the map and the time. They should be just a block away, and with five minutes to spare.

"What's this place produce?" Kay asked to Fynnis.

The turian glanced over to her. "Algae, I think."

"Algae," Kay repeated. "_Why _exactly?"

"Biofuels, mainly," Fynnis answered.

Kay let out a disappointed sigh. "So any pick-up business we might be able to jump on while we're here?"

The turian activated his omnitool. "There may be an open posting for cargo transport. I'll check it out."

"As long as the cargo isn't..." Kay trailed off. "You know," she finished grimly.

Will looked back over his shoulder to the others as they followed behind him. "As long as it isn't what?"

Kay looked up to Will and set her jaw firmly. "Slave trafficking."

Will nodded approvingly. "I assume that's one of your no-goes for jobs?"

"_The_ no-go," Kay answered. "Aside from maybe unwarranted assassination."

"And I guess you decide what's warranted?" Will asked with a smirk.

"People who hire assassins usually do so for a reason," Kay answered sarcastically. "If the target is someone the galaxy wouldn't be lesser without, why not. Someone's gonna kill them."

Will gave her a concerned look. "How can you even be certain that you'd be killing someone who deserves it? You do know that someone hiring an assassin might not be giving you the full side of the story, right?"

Kay raised a brow challengingly. "You've killed people. How do you know _they _deserved it? Hell, you told me that you were going to kill this Janson guy."

"That's completely different," Will argued. "Janson sold me into _slavery_! And I only attack people who are trying to kill me."

"Mhmm, sure," Kay said with a small laugh. "I'm sure you've never popped a gang sentry with a preemptive headshot before."

Will hesitated to argue, because she might have actually been right. Either way, they had arrived at the entrance to the bar and the meeting point. Will led them up the short flight of stairs to the entrance where a welcoming door pinged and slid apart. The bar was dark, quiet and relatively empty. The perfect place for Vayren, Will thought. He stepped inside and did a quick scan of the tables before catching sight of the green-skinned salarian that he almost did not recognize at first. During their time together chasing Antarian, Will rarely saw Vayren out of his armor. Now, he wore nothing but a simple black workman's outfit. The trio casually made their way to the back of the bar where Will placed his hand on Vayren's table and raised a brow.

"Got room for a few more?"

Vayren, who had clearly seen them but had pretended to remain oblivious, shifted his gaze up to Will and smiled. "By all means."

Will grinned as Vayren rose to his feet and offered a hand in greeting, which Will gladly grasped and shook.

"It's great to see you again, Vayren," Will said earnestly.

Vayren cracked a tiny smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The salarian motioned to the table and the two of them came to sit while Kay and Fynnis followed. Vayren deactivated his holopad that was sitting on the table in front of him as he eyed the two strangers. Will cleared his throat and held out a gesturing hand.

"Vayren, this is Kay and Fynnis," Will said quietly. "Kay is Shansa's older sister."

The Spectre nodded once to each of them. "And they can be trusted?"

Will looked over to the two of them. "Yeah."

"Then we shouldn't have a problem," Vayren declared as he turned back to Will. "Now, I must ask: where is the rest of your crew?"

"Like I said, that's what I need your help with," Will answered. "You remember a little over a year and a half ago when I asked for your help? I told you the crew was in some trouble and we needed priority clearance to dock at the Citadel."

The Spectre nodded. "Yes, of course. And I remember the request being rather vague."

"That's because we were being hunted, and I wasn't sure if our communications were being monitored." Will raised a brow. "Ever heard of a group called Cerberus?"

Vayren seemed rather surprised as Will spoke the name. "Certainly. They've been a growing thorn in the Council's side for a few years now. Why do you ask?"

"That's who was hunting us," he replied. "A group of them, at least."

"I can't imagine that went well," Vayren said bluntly.

Will gave him a bitter smirk. "And you'd be right. Let's just say the hunt ended with me ramming their ship with the _Hyperion_ while the rest of the crew escaped in a shuttle."

The salarian gave him a quizzical look. "Yet you survived. How?"

"I locked in the course and tried to get out in the Kodiak, but was just a second too slow," Will answered. "It got torn in half and gave me the worst whiplash I've ever had. Dislocated a shoulder, too."

Vayren sat back in his seat and eyed Will closely. It almost looked as though he was impressed.

"And then?"

Will took in a deep breath. "I floated in the debris field for a few hours before a ship picked me up. A Blue Suns ship." His voice grew softer. "I spent the next year and a half enslaved in a labor camp."

The Spectre's eyes widened in surprise as he sat up. "You were sold into slavery? How did you escape?"

"I didn't," Will said with a laugh. "I was rescued by these two."

The motioned over to Kay and Fynnis who continued to sit in silence and simply nodded in response to their acknowledgment.

"That was less than a week ago," Will continued. "I've tried to get in touch with the crew, but all of their contact ID has been removed. Well, except Kallux and Tyrixis."

"Tyrixis has been a concern of mine since we killed Narenthus Antarian," Vayren admitted. "She was displaying severely abnormal behavior so I kept an eye on her until she eventually dropped off the grid, so to speak. I wouldn't expect to find her unless she wants to be found. But what about Kallux? He cannot help you?"

Will averted his eyes. "Kallux is part of the reason I'm in this situation to begin with," he muttered bitterly. "When I asked for the RMC's help he told me I was on my own. His advice was to fall off the radar and lay low for a few _years._"

"Ask the risk of being inflammatory, what else could he have done?" Vayren inquired.

"The RMC is militarized now!" Will blurted out angrily. "He could have brought the entire group to combat readiness and hit Cerberus hard and fast. Just the crew and I alone managed to inflict heavy casualties on them."

The salarian paused as he considered the phrasing for his next question. "Hume, I don't think there is much Kallux could have done. Cerberus is larger than you might think, and _certainly_ more powerful than whatever the Red Moon Collective has become."

Will clenched his fists. "He _owed _me, Vayren." His voice was strained. "We were supposed to be able to count on each other."

The table was silent for a few seconds before Vayren finally shook his head. "There's nothing that can be done about it now, Hume. And if he is really your last resort, I'll see what I can do for you now. What is it you wanted access to?"

"I just want to see how and when the ID numbers for the crew were deleted," Will answered weakly. "My bank records as well."

Vayren nodded and looked down to his tablet. He activated the screen and began tapping through a few menus. After a minute or so of work he glanced up to Will.

"Do you have the ID numbers?"

Will nodded and activated his omnitool as he stepped over to Vayren's side. The salarian looked over and copied each of the numbers down with incredible speed before nodding in thanks. After another minute of authorization verification, the tablet blinked to display the results from Vayren's search.

"This is interesting," he commented. "All of the ID numbers were deleted within a day of each other. And the action seems to have been done by the ID holder in each case."

Will looked to the names and frowned. Shansa, Eleena, Tul'Sorrin, T'lees and Ralliston, all removed from the database roughly two weeks after he had been captured. He looked down to his omnitool and pulled up his banking account number.

"Can you check my account? It was closed when I tried to get into it on Omega," Will asked.

Vayren quickly brought up the information and held it out for Will to see. All but five hundred credits had been transferred to a credit chit at approximately the same time that the ID numbers had been deleted. A year later his account had been terminated due to inactivity.

"Shansa's the only one who had full access to my account," Will mentioned to Vayren. "She's the only one who could have withdrawn all of that."

"Sounds like she's okay then," Kay said hopefully.

Will looked over and nodded. "At least for a few weeks after I was captured, yeah."

Vayren looked up. "Is there anything else?"

Will closed his omnitool and shook his head. "Not that I can think of. I don't know where they are and I can't get in touch with any of them."

Fynnis cleared his throat. "I know you're not keen on the idea, but it sounds like you've only got one option left, Will."

Vayren nodded in agreement. "Kallux might be your only chance now, Hume. If he suggested that you and the crew, as you said, 'disappear' it's possible he helped the others do so after they believed you were killed."

Will dropped back down into his seat and closed his eyes. If there was one thing he didn't want, it was to crawl to Kallux in search of help.

"I... I guess I don't have any other options at this point," Will admitted quietly.

Kay raised a brow. "Where is this guy?"

"The RMC headquarters is on Omega," Will answered. "Assuming the Collective is still standing."

"Then we'll head back," Kay assured him. "We'll find them, Willie."

Will sighed. "Sure." He looked up to Vayren and smiled. "Thank you so much for the help, Vayren. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

The salarian crossed his arms. "Actually, Hume, I have one last question for you. Do you think you'll need more assistance on this?"

"It's possible. It depends on what I learn from Kallux," Will replied worriedly. "Why? I'm not... asking too much of you, am I?"

Vayren shook his head. "No. In fact, I was wondering if you might allow me to join you and help."

Will blinked in disbelief. "Are you serious? Don't you have Spectre business to attend to?"

Vayren sighed softly. "I've been on duty non-stop since I received my Spectre appointment over three years ago. I just wrapped my operation here and I've been considering taking a short bout of R&R."

"You know the R's stand for 'rest' and 'recuperation,' right?" Will asked with a chuckle.

The salarian smirked. "If I can take a small break from Spectre work without having to go to a damned vacation resort I will be satisfied." He let his lips fall into a small frown. "I don't have any family left these days and the only friends I've got are deep in STG business. Helping you find your crew seems like a nice way to unwind for a few weeks."

Will looked over to Kay and Fynnis. "As long as these two don't mind, I'm sure you're welcome."

Kay and Fynnis shared a quick, slightly nervous look before she responded. "As long as you don't go poking around the operations records in the ship..."

Vayren grinned. "Let's consider this a cultural learning opportunity in case I need to infiltrate a Terminus gang at some point."

"They're exaggerating," Will assured him. "They're mainly just cargo haulers like Shansa and I were on the _Hyperion._ With maybe a tad more smuggling."

Kay and Fynnis shared a second concerned look before the turian responded. "Uhh... yes. Precisely. Let's say that's spot on."

Vayren gave them an amused chuckle. "Come on now, I'm a _Spectre._ I can let whatever petty crimes you've committed fly under the radar. I'm typically more concerned with the kind of crimes that threaten galactic stability."

"Oh! In that case, you've got nothin' to worry about," Kay said bombastically. "No threatening of galactic stability on _our_ ship, that's for damn sure."

Will shook his head as they rose to their feet. "You're really selling the act, Kay."

"Now we just have to hide that nuke we were going to use to assassinate the Council and we're set." Fynnis declared with almost too much dry sarcasm.

With a small laugh, Will turned and began walking toward the door with the others in tow. "Come on then, we've got a backstabbing krogan to visit."


	9. Chapter 9

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 9**

_**ISV Trueshot, en route to Omega, Sahrabarik System**_

Will had been staring through the viewport in front of him for almost an hour now. Through it he could see the arcing and shifting energy that was contained in the FTL core of the _Trueshot. _He had caught himself staring at a drive core or piece of machinery more than a handful of times over the past few years. Something he chalked up to Eleena's innate interest in engineering and their frequent melding of minds. This core was significantly larger than the _Hyperion's _had been, but this was also a larger ship and had been built by turians. They had had hundreds of years to hone their mass effect technology as well as access to all the collective galactic knowledge they could hope for. The _Hyperion_ had been built before humans even made first contact. He shrugged off his thoughts of the old, long-destroyed ship and tried to clear his mind as he stared into the core.

"Am I interrupting something?" Kay asked in an amused tone.

He blinked and looked to the side where Kay stood in one of the doorways with her arms crossed and eyes wandering curiously.

"I was just thinking," Will finally answered.

Kay raised a brow. "Yeah? What about?"

"_Who_ about, actually," Will corrected. "Just... the people we're looking for."

She took in a deep breath and nodded in understanding. "Ah. Gotcha." Kay motioned over her shoulder. "You know, Fynnis, the Spectre and I were having a drink the mess if you wanna join."

Will stared into the core for a few more seconds before smirking lightly as he finally turned away. "His name is Vayren. I don't know if he'd appreciate being called 'the Spectre.'"

Kay grinned and urged him to follow with a beckoning finger. He sighed passively and followed after her as she led them into the starboard hallway and up to the door leading into the crew's quarters. Fynnis and Vayren were sitting at the table, each with a drink in front of them and a third set by an empty chair. Kay retrieved a fourth drink and held it out to Will, who grasped the bottle and sat down with the others. Vayren was sitting up in his straight posture, as usual, while Fynnis leaned back in the chair with a hand resting on the table. Kay sat down in the empty chair at the end of the table and looked toward Vayren.

"So ya like the ship?" She asked proudly.

Vayren nodded in approval and took a small sip of his drink. "I do. It is much more than I was expecting." He glanced over to Will. "I was anticipating something more in line with the _Hyperion._"

Kay shook her head and smiled. "Nope, the _Trueshot _here is a grade-A turian warship."

Fynnis snorted slightly. "Maybe seventy years ago. And if its gun batteries still functioned."

"They don't?" Vayren asked, surprised.

"They've been... out of commission for a little while now," Kay answered hesitantly. "We haven't exactly had the creds to get them fixed up."

"Sounds like something Eleena would love to get her hands on," Will mentioned with a soft smile.

The salarian took a small sip. "How did you acquire this vessel? As you said, it is a turian warship."

"It kind of defaulted ownership to me after our captain and most of the crew was killed," Kay answered. "As for how Drasa got it? Heh, that's a much longer story that I don't know if I feel comfortable telling given our present company."

"Funny, I came in possession of the _Hyperion_ the same way you did the _Trueshot_," Will added with a bittersweet shake of his head.

"Hmm. And how was the rest of the crew killed?" Vayren pursued.

Will wasn't sure if the salarian was genuinely interested or attempting to judge the moral character of the two strangers. Perhaps it was both.

Kay nodded and sat forward. "I kinda dodged the longer story when Will first asked me, but I guess we've got time." She took a big swig of her drink and looked around the table. "It was a little over a year ago. I had put some feelers out on Drasa's account, she was our captain, saying that we were looking to offload some... chemical cargo at a reasonable price. I got a few responses from an Eclipse cell out in the Traverse and we setup an exchange. In hindsight I should have been a little suspicious that they didn't even try to haggle on the price per unit."

"What exactly were you trying to sell?" Vayren asked straightly.

Kay looked to the salarian and met his challenging gaze before responding. "Sinaxx. It's a narcotic."

The salarian nodded slowly in consideration. "I see. Please, continue."

"There were seven of us on the crew at the time. Me, Drasa, our pilot Salnor, our engineer Francis, two deckhands named Talsus and Venterius, and of course, our brand new recruit by the name of Fynnis Cortillian." Kay gave the turian a sideways glance and grin.

Fynnis took a sip of his drink and sighed. "Yep. It was only second or third away mission, too."

Kay nodded. "That's right. I agreed to their condition that the meeting would occur in this old, abandoned asteroid mining station, neutral ground and all that."

"I know this story goes wrong eventually," Will pointed out.

"Yes it does," Kay replied with a hint of sadness. "We docked and headed into the main assembly area for the facility. It was all six of the ground crew and just our pilot back on the ship. The assembly area was a fucking wreck. This place had been abandoned for centuries and was clearly nothing but a place for seedy folks like ourselves to butt heads. But, the Eclipse showed up with only six people as we'd agreed, so I didn't think anything of it. Luckily, our turian friend here was less than convinced."

Fynnis flared his mandibles and leaned back coolly. "I'd overseen enough gang meetings on Omega go awry to know when something didn't feel right. And something felt damn wrong about that place. I brought up my omnitool while Kay and Drasa were first meeting with the Eclipse contact and tapped into the _Trueshot_ to load up some of its sensors remotely. Hit me like a slap in the face." He took a quick sip of his drink. "The ship's security was already being compromised. I called Kay over, since Drasa was working on the deal, and pointed it out."

"I knew shit was going down the second he told me," Kay continued. "Off a hunch, I switched my helmet's optics to thermal and did a quick scan." She shook her head. "At least four snipers were perched around the upper level of the room lining up shots. Stealth field generators."

"I'm surprised they had ready access to that kind of technology," Vayren commented.

Kay nodded in agreement. "Me too. But it's not like the cloaking systems were top of the line or anything. They didn't even hide thermal emissions."

Will took a large gulp from his drink. "So? What happened?"

"I was already sure a fight would break out, so I grabbed my gun and got close to cover," Fynnis answered. "Luckily I was already near the back of the group. Kay, on the other hand..."

"I was running back up to Drasa," she finished. "By the time I reached her, the Eclipse had already realized that Fynnis and I were aware of the danger." Kay averted her eyes. "Their snipers opened fire without warning. Two shots went straight into Drasa's chest. The first took out her shields, the seconds tore her chest wide open."

The group sat in silence as Kay took a long drink before speaking again.

"The Eclipse lieutenant that we were dealing with had still been faking the diplomatic intentions, so he was just pulling out his weapon when his men opened fire. I jumped forward, punched the gun out of his hands before he could raise it, and wrapped him in a nelson hold. The rest of our team was already firing at the Eclipse, so I just started backpedaling to keep the Eclipse lieutenant between me and the snipers." She shook her head. "I yelled for everyone to run, to get back to the ship, but Fynnis was the only person close enough to the exit. If I hadn't had their officer acting as a human shield between me and the Eclipse, I'd have been dead too."

"None of the others made it?" Vayren clarified.

Kay nodded solemnly. "Yep. They got overwhelmed in no more than a minute."

"And the Eclipse officer?" The Spectre inquired.

Kay remained silent for a moment. "I got out of the central chamber with him and wanted nothing but revenge. So I told Fynnis to overload the lieutenant's shielding and shot the son of a bitch in the fucking head."

The group remained silent for a few long seconds. Will looked over to see Vayren eying Kay closely. He wasn't quite sure of the Spectre approved or not, but Vayren certainly wasn't doing so openly. Instead, the salarian simply watched with stoic eyes as Kay stared down at the table lost in the memory of the moment.

Will shrugged. "Probably deserved it."

"There's no 'probably,'" Kay quickly objected as she looked up to him. "The Eclipse are the scum of the galaxy."

"I don't know, the Blue Suns aren't much better," Will muttered.

Vayren looked between the two of them. "Sadly, I can assure you that there are far more dangerous groups."

"I didn't say they were the most dangerous," Kay corrected him.

"Fair enough," the salarian relented. "So you then took over the ship?"

"Yeah. I found out as we were making our escape that Fynnis had been multitasking the entire time to keep the Eclipse out of the _Trueshot_'s network. Apparently they were trying to lock down the drive systems. Probably wanted the damn thing for themselves," Kay spat angrily.

"Or, you know, the crates of sinaxx in the cargo hold worth nearly half the value of the ship itself," Fynnis added sarcastically.

Kay gave him a joking glare. "Either way, smart ass, I was pretty damn impressed. You got yourself promoted from fresh meat to full crewmate that day."

Will smiled as he finished off his drink and looked over to Vayren. "So I've gotta ask, what have you been doing the past few years?"

Kay and Fynnis both perked up at the change in subjected. Will suspected it was both equal parts interest and relief that they were no longer under the scrutiny of the Spectre.

"You know I can't answer that question," Vayren replied regretfully. "Not in great detail, at least. I will simply say that I have been busy. I have been involved with quite a few situations that I would not have expected to see in my days."

"That's obvious," Will chuckled. "I'm in one of those situations right now. When we were looking for Antarian I would have never imagined that we would sit down and chat over a beer."

The salarian gave him a curious look. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but you're a pretty 'down to business' kind of guy," Will answered cautiously. "At least, you were when we traveled together a few years ago."

Vayren considered the thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Since I earned my Spectre commendation I have worked almost exclusively alone. I suppose I've come to miss the comradery of the STG."

"Are you saying that you actually enjoyed spending time with me and the crew?" Will asked with a small grin.

"I certainly didn't mind it," Vayren answered plainly. "But we had an important mission and I had to remain professional. Now?" He took a sip of his drink and sighed contently. "I'm on vacation."

Fynnis snorted. "I hope I don't get to the point where my vacations involve packing state of the art weaponry and armor."

"I don't entirely anticipate using them," Vayren pointed out. "But it never hurts to be prepared."

* * *

"I really don't want to do this," Will said quietly.

He stared across the street to the nondescript mechanic shop that housed the entrance of the RMC's relatively hidden headquarters. Beside him, Vayren stood fully equipped in combat gear and weaponry. The very idea of Omega had been enough for him to plan for the worst case scenario. Kay and Fynnis were back on the ship, as Will had been unsure if he would be able to get them into the Collective's headquarters. However, given his former position with the group and the fact that Vayren was a Spectre, Will was fairly certain that the two of them would not have much difficulty gaining entrance.

"I don't believe you have any other options," Vayren pointed out. "Other than giving up, of course."

"I said I didn't want to," Will reiterated. "Not that I wasn't going to."

Will took a calming breath and stepped into the street, moving around the foot traffic that passed by in either direction. He reached the door and stepped inside with Vayren on his heels. Will tapped on the control panel just inside the door and waited for a response.

"_State your business."_

"I'm here to see Kallux," Will answered. "Name's William Hume. I used to be a member of the RMC."

"_William Hume... one second."_

"They seem a tad suspicious," Vayren pointed out.

"They should be," Will reminded him. "They think I'm dead."

A few seconds later a large set of doors in front of them began to slide apart to reveal the security checkpoint of the Collective's headquarters. Will and Vayren were immediately met by a group of four RMC soldiers with their weapons cautiously held at the ready.

"There's only two of them," one of the turian guards reported over his comm.

"I could've told you that," Will muttered irritably.

"Are you really Will Hume?" The turian asked.

Will shrugged. "You need a fucking picture to check?"

"Hey, according to the records you've been MIA for nearly two years," the guard pointed out. "Jackson, grab me the scanner."

One of the human RMC soldiers ran back toward the checkpoint to retrieve a tool as Will crossed his arms and waited.

"Can't be too certain," the turian reminded him.

Will sighed. "Whatever."

The human, Jackson, approached with an active bio-scanner and held it up to Will's eyes. "I need a retinal scan."

The device beeped a few seconds later. The human looked over to his turian superior and nodded.

"Matches our records, sir."

The turian let out a small laugh of disbelief. "Damn." He shook his head and stepped forward with an extended hand. "Welcome back, Captain Hume. Sergeant Bratus."

Will pushed aside his lingering anger for Kallux and shook the guard's hand. He had no grudge against this man or anyone else serving with the RMC.

"Thanks. But it's not 'captain' anymore," he informed him.

"I'm sure you'll have your rank reinstated," the Bratus assured him.

Will pulled his hand back. "I'm not here to jump back into the ranks. I just need to talk to Kallux and I'll be on my way."

The sergeant nodded. "I see. Well, I'm certainly authorized to let you in, but I'm going to have to run the full procedure on your friend here."

Vayren crossed his arms. "I would rather not."

Bratus put on a diplomatic tone. "Sir, it's simply a standard scan. And I'll need you hand over your weapons... all of them."

"No, he doesn't," Will said firmly. "He's a Spectre. One of the two that Kallux and I served with a few years ago."

"A Spectre?" The turian paused before letting out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, okay. But if he pulls out any of those weapons..."

"I have no reason to harm anyone here," Vayren assured him. "In fact, I find your organization to be quite an admirable endeavor."

Will kept his dissenting and cynical response to himself. "So are we clear to head in?"

Sergeant Bratus nodded and stepped aside. "Jackson, disable the security alarms so they can pass through."

Will and Vayren were escorted through a large, inactive body-scanner and into the main hall of the RMC headquarters. The building looked exactly as Will remembered it, but he felt nothing but a growing resentment as he turned down the hall that led to Kallux's office.

"I wasn't expecting such a robust facility," Vayren admitted.

"All this came together after our time with you and Corsin," Will informed him. "After that mission, Kallux decided that the RMC had too much wasted potential and pushed for some actual structure and unification."

Will furrowed a brow as he stopped at the door to Kallux's conference room and office. The panel was red, indicating that there was a meeting in progress. He tapped the button at the center, hoping it would open the door, but was met with a negative buzz.

"Vayren?" Will asked as he stepped aside.

The salarian smirked and raised his omnitool. The Spectre cracked the door's lock as though it was nothing, allowing Will to press his finger to the panel once again. This time, however, the door pinged agreeably and slid apart. He looked straight ahead to the conference table where a familiar female salarian and elcor stood around the table across from Kallux as he pointed to a few points on a holographic map at the center.

"No, they're simply not a threat now, but the _Eclipse-_"

Will watched as Kallux's voice stopped on a dime as he noticed the door had opened and looked to his side. The krogan straightened up and turned to face Will and Vayren with his mouth slightly agape.

"Hume?" He blinked and looked over his shoulder. "And Agent Vayren?"

"That's right," Will answered as he stepped into the room.

Kallux shook his head slowly. "I don't... Ralliston said you were dead."

"I can understand how he came to that conclusion," Will responded as he came to a stop at the side of the table. "But he's wrong."

Will had never been good at reading the krogan's emotions, but he was sure that he saw genuine happiness in Kallux's face. The krogan looked to Malylen and Orrat and motioned toward the door.

"Please, give us a minute," he asked.

The salarian looked as shocked as Kallux, but nodded in agreement and quickly made her way to the door. The elcor, however, simply turned and slowly followed her out. Vayren stepped to the side and let them pass before closing the door behind them. Once they had left, Kallux took a step toward Will with his eyes looking the man up and down as though he was afraid they would find something out of the ordinary. Something to give him a hint as to how Will might be alive, or that he was somehow being tricked.

"How?" The krogan finally asked.

"Who told you about what happened?" Will asked.

Kallux continued to stare him down. "Ralliston. I haven't spoken to any of the others since you disappeared."

Will nodded. "What did he tell you?"

"He gave me a full debriefing of your final attack," Kallux responded, his mind finally starting to catch up with what he was seeing. "He told me that they found thewreckage of the _Hyperion_ and another ship cluttered together. They assumed you had rammed it to give them a chance to escape."

"They assumed correctly." Will crossed his arms. "So they found the wreckage?"

Kallux nodded. "Yes, Ralliston said they made it back to the debris field no more than twelve hours after the collision."

Will smirked lightly. "Well no wonder they didn't find me. A ship found me after only a few hours. A Blue Suns ship." He paused and took a small breath. "They dumped me in a slave labor camp where I stayed until a little over a week ago."

The krogan stood nearly frozen in place. "Are you saying-"

"I was there for about a year and a half, yeah." Will clenched his fists involuntarily.

"But you're alive," Kallux said quietly. "Damn, you're _alive, _Hume!"

The krogan smiled and took a step toward Will with an outstretched hand. Will stood firm and stared him down until Kallux slowly lowered his arm and ruffled his brow.

"I'm alive," Will repeated. "But I lost a year and a half of my life. I lost my ship. And my crew, my friends... I don't know where they are or if they're okay." He took a step toward Kallux and pointed to him. "And you know who I have to thank for that? _You._"

Kallux narrowed his eyes defensively. "Me? Hume, are you crazy? _You_ launched that suicide mission against Cerberus, not me! If you had listened to me and dropped off the radar-"

"Then what?" Will interrupted. "They'd still be out there looking for us! And we'd all be in hiding for what, five years you suggested? We damn near took them out on our own, Kallux! If you and the rest of the RMC had been there with us..."

The krogan snarled. "This again?" He spun and stomped a few steps away. "I have the welfare of this entire organization to think about, Hume. I can't compromise that. Not even for you."

Behind Will, Vayren stepped closer and cleared his throat. "I don't believe we came here to argue," he salarian said firmly.

Will and Kallux both looked to the Spectre in surprise, having almost forgotten he was present. Will nodded in agreement and glanced back to the krogan.

"He's right. The only reason I'm here is to find my crew. All their ID numbers have been wiped and I've got no leads." He sighed and looked to he side defeatedly. "But it sounds like you don't know what became of them either."

Kallux frowned and leaned against the table. "I don't. I'm sorry, Hume." He turned to face them. "And there's only one person I know of who might: Ralliston."

"Perfect," Will muttered sarcastically. "And I see you just let him back into your ranks." He turned Kallux and laughed. "If you knew what that son of a bitch did-"

"I know," Kallux interrupted sternly. "I know everything. He came to me after you disappeared and admitted to betraying you and the rest of the crew. And then he told me about what you did to save him on the Citadel. How you and Eleena stayed in a damn clusterfuck to help him." He let out a pained sigh. "He's practically a kid, Hume. He'd never had people he could depend on like that."

"A kid? He's been running with gangs since he was a teenager!" Will objected sternly. "He's not an innocent little flower."

The krogan shook his head. "I'm not saying he is. I'm saying he never had people who he could truly trust until he served with you. It's just a damn shame he didn't realize it until after he had a hole blown through is stomach." Kallux looked to the side. "I've never seen a man with more guilt and regret."

Silence descended over them as Will tried to collect his thoughts. He hadn't planned on this reunion being as heated as it was, and he should have anticipated it. But Vayren was right. He didn't come here to argue.

"So... you think he can help me find them?" Will finally asked.

Kallux reached for his holopad and began searching through a list. "Maybe. But if the rest of your crew knew that Ralliston betrayed them, they've probably kept their distance from him as well."

"But he might know why they all wiped their ID numbers," Will hoped aloud.

"Well I can tell you why he wiped his," Kallux said as he read over his tablet. "Ralliston is working as an infiltration agent."

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'spy,'" Vayren quipped.

Kallux nodded in agreement. "He's currently embedded with the Eclipse on Illium to gather intel for our possible expansion to that system." He lowered the holopad and motioned toward Will's wrist. "I sent you his last known location. Obviously we're not in frequent communication, but he shouldn't be far from there."

Will activated his omnitool and looked over the file Kallux had sent. He nodded to himself and shifted his eyes back to the krogan.

"Thank you," he managed to say.

He turned to leave with Vayren following close behind. Kallux cleared his throat as he placed the holopad on the table.

"Good luck, Hume. If you need any help..."

Will glanced back over his shoulder and gave Kallux a single nod of acknowledgment. Together, he and Vayren began the walk back to the entrance of the facility and the exit.

"I didn't know you were on such rough terms with Kallux," Vayren commented offhandedly.

"The fact that he thought we would be buddies after what he did to us was enough for me to wanna punch him in the gut."

The salarian gave him a skeptical glance. "Hume, he did what he thought was right as a leader. You should know that sometimes tough decisions have to be made. I imagine that he would never _want_ to abandon you."

Will shook his head. "This damn Collective came between us watching out for each other. I'm not going to put myself in a position to be betrayed like that again."


	10. Chapter 10

**The Red Moon Collection - 4 - Fragments and Ire**

**Chapter 10**

_**ISV Trueshot, in orbit over Illium, Tasale System**_

"_Should have a berth in just a few minutes,_" Kay called over the ship's intercom.

"Good thing there was a delay," Fynnis commented. "Because this firmware is being a bastard."

Will glanced over his shoulder to watch as the turian stood behind him working on his omnitool. The turian was attempting to finish connecting Will's suit of armor into the battle network that he and Kay shared. Unfortunately the suit was rather old and had not been given to them in a state that would allow for easy modification. Will looked down as he crossed his arms and eyed the armor plating around him. It was painted red and silver, the colors of the Red Moon Collective. After coming to the realization that he was still without any gear, he bitterly requested a set of armor and a weapon from the RMC's armory. Thankfully, Kallux had authorized the loan after being called by the quartermaster, and without having to question Will about it.

"You're not instilling me with a lot of hope for this armor," Will muttered only semi-jokingly.

"Eh, it'll hold together," Fynnis assured him. "I ran a quick diagnostic on it. It's not top shelf, but it'll keep your organs in close proximity. For a little while, at least."

"I can feel my concern just floating away," Will remarked sarcastically.

He looked over to a workbench on the wall of the cargo bay to see the rifle he had requisitioned laying at the center. Picking up the borrowed M-15 Vindicator from the RMC had been surprisingly difficult. He had come to terms with everything he had lost when the_ Hyperion _was destroyed, but being reminded of his father's rifle pained him deeply. It had been the last physical thing he had of his father's and it was undoubtedly obliterated as it sat in the armory when the ship was destroyed.

"Alright, you should be good to go," Fynnis declared as he stepped to Will's side with a confident nod.

"No other complications?" Will asked.

He stepped over to the workbench and retrieved the rifle before stowing it on his back.

"Only a few glaring deficiencies in the armor's structural integrity. Nothing to worry about."

"Thanks," Will replied with a smirk. "We should probably head up to the cockpit and make sure everything is going smoothly," Will suggested as he turned for the door.

"That and make sure the Spectre hasn't arrested Kay," Fynnis said with his usual unflinching sarcasm. "He's going to do it eventually. He's probably itching to do it as we speak."

The two of them passed through the door to the hallway and hurried toward the stairs near the aft end of the ship that would take them to the upper level.

"He's not going to arrest her," Will said both to assure Fynnis and himself. "I mean, as long as she doesn't do anything _really_ bad in front of him."

Fynnis laughed as they headed up the stairs. "Oh, then we've got nothing at all to worry about! It's not as though we make a living doing things that are generally considered 'bad' by the median moral consciousness."

"You're not helping your case," Will reminded him.

The two of them took the final step to the operations deck and turned down the small hallway past the officer's quarters to their left and right. Straight ahead Will could see Kay sitting in the pilot's seat with her fingers drumming impatiently on a wall panel as Vayren stood behind her with his arms held behind his back. Will and Fynnis approached quietly and came to stand on either side of the Spectre to see an idling comm channel blinking on one of the cockpit screens.

"I thought you said we'd be docked in a few minutes," Will jabbed.

Kay groaned. "If the fucking _port_ would hurry up we would-"

She stopped as the comm channel turned from orange to green.

"_You are cleared for docking, _Trueshot. _Proceed to docking bay 4-9."_

"Thanks, inbound now." Kay rolled her eyes in irritated relief despite her amicable response.

"_You will be met by a port representative, please prepare any relevant immigration or declaration documents."_

Kay leaned forward and ignited the thrusters as she pointed the nose of the ship toward the surface. "You got it."

She reached over and placed a few commands into the navigation panel as the ship began its descent.

"I'm surprised they approved us to dock so quickly," Vayren commented.

Kay looked over her shoulder. "We've been here dozens of times. They've probably got everything they need on us on file already."

Will raised his brows. "Really? I've only docked here once or twice, and that was just for a quick cargo drop. What kept you coming back here?"

"Lots of business," Kay replied as she turned back to the flight controls. "Back when I was still just a slave on the ship we'd make actual legitimate runs delivering indentured servants to and from the planet. Looked good to have some official business on the books in case the ship was ever investigated."

"Hmm. I can't imagine you do that anymore."

"Fuck no," Kay assured him. "But there's always plenty of... uh, cargo, that needs hauling. Merc jobs on occasion."

Will looked through the forward viewport as the ship began to level out over the outskirts of the city they were set to land in. While the Citadel and Illium were both impressive, Illium was a different kind of beauty. Illium was mesmerizing. The colors of the sunset mixed with those of the superstructure skyscrapers were bold and dazzling. Those colors combined with the elegant and sometimes odd shape and design of asari architecture created a sight that Will couldn't help but be entranced by. Kay monitored the mostly automated controls as they brought the ship through its traveling lane and in position to float gently into the massive spaceport. The docking armatures automatically assumed control and wrapped themselves into position on the ship's hull, locking it into place just as the _Trueshot_ slid into its berth.

Kay jumped to her feet and immediately stepped past the others. "C'mon, slackers."

Will, Vayren and Fynnis turned and hurried to catch up with her as she led them down the stairs to the port side of the ship where the airlock had been lined up with the docking ramp. The four of them stepped into the airlock and waited as it swiftly cycled the atmosphere and opened the outer door to the ramp suspended hundreds of feet above the surface of the planet. Will and Kay stepped out first, followed by Vayren and Fynnis.

"Damn, I forgot how hot this place is," Will muttered.

"It's actually rather cool now that the sun is setting," Vayren noted.

"Remind me not to step outside at noon," Will replied with a laugh.

Together the group took a few steps toward the end of the docking ramp and door that led inside, only to see it open as an asari strolled out with a datapad in her hand. They slowed their pace as the asari approached them confidently and gave them a corporate smile.

"Good evening, welcome back to New Estrana," she greeted. "New passengers with you?"

Kay was clearly not happy with the information they had stored on her. "Two new ones, yeah."

"I see. And have they visited Illium before?" The asari looked to Will and Vayren knowingly.

"Uhh, yeah, once or twice," Will replied.

"Many times," Vayren answered.

The asari attendant nodded. "Perfect." She looked to Kay. "Do you have any goods to declare, Captain?"

"None," Kay replied. "We're just here looking for some friends."

The asari looked down to her datapad and made a few entries. "I see your payment has already been transferred. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I think we're good," Fynnis informed her.

"Wonderful. If you require transportation, we have taxi terminals just outside the doors of the main lobby. Enjoy your stay on Illium."

The woman smiled and quickly strode back to the door from where she had appeared as Will turned to the others.

"So what's our first step?" He asked. "All we know is the alias Ralliston is going by now and that he's here in New Estrana."

"We should find the immigration office," Fynnis suggested. "He would have had to register to stay on the planet for more than a week or two."

"Yes, and they might have records on his place of residence," Vayren agreed. "Assuming, of course, that the information he gave them is even true."

"Just what we need, more variables to make this difficult," Kay chimed.

"Come on then," Will said as he started off down the ramp. "Fynnis, think you can find us an immigration office?"

The turian activated his omnitool and nodded. "I'll see what I can find."

The group of four reached the end of the ramp and stepped into the interior of the spaceport. After walking down a hall to a security checkpoint each of them went through the process of presenting their identification and passing through security at the customs checkpoint. This included Vayren, who Will noticed did not identify himself as a Spectre while talking to the security agent. After they had been cleared they boarded and elevator that transported them to the top floor where the main lobby was located and began walking toward the entrance doors.

"Surprised you didn't push through security with your Spectre clearance," Fynnis mentioned to Vayren.

The turian had noticed as well.

"I didn't mention it. In fact, I used a fabricated ID," the salarian responded.

Kay gave him a confused look. "What? Why? If I were a Spectre I'd be pushing that kind of authority everywhere I went!"

"There are people on Illium who don't need to know I am here," he answered.

"Damn, apparently the people that scare Spectres live in New Estrana," Kay joked.

Vayren narrowed his eyes. "This has nothing to do with fear. I assure you that these people have done nothing to _frighten_ me. It's simply a matter of..." He sighed and shook his head. "Just leave it."

Will gave Vayren a curious look as they stepped outside into the twilight sun and walked toward the taxi terminal near the edge of the balcony.

"We got a destination yet?" Will asked.

"Yep," Fynnis replied. "The city's main immigration office is a few minutes away by skycar. Looks like they'll be open for another hour or so."

Kay stepped up to one of the hailing consoles and called a cab from the row of idling skycars on an outcropping below them. A car at the end jumped to life and spun to position itself by the loading ramp with its door open and waiting. Fynnis stepped ahead of the others and slid into one of the front seats where he accessed the control console and input their destination. Will, Kay and Vayren followed behind him and sat comfortably as the door shut by Kay's command.

"So I have to ask, is this information we're looking for public?" Kay inquired from the second front seat.

The turian shook his head and sat back as the car set off on its course. "It's not available on the extranet," he answered. "I'm hoping at the offices we'll be able to get our hands on it."

"Illium can be a very private place," Vayren warned them. "It would be wise if we had an alternative plan in place."

"I was assuming the alternative plan involved the words, 'I'm a Spectre,' and them handing over whatever we asked for," Kay asserted. "Is that not the case?"

"I used a false identity when we passed through customs," Vayren said with a sigh. "Why would I let the immigration office of all places know of my actual identity?"

Will raised a brow. "You're worried about your name showing up in _anywhere_? Who are these people you're trying to avoid on Illium?"

"It's not... people," Vayren answered hesitantly. "A person."

Will almost prodded Vayren to continue, but decided against it. Instead he turned to look out the window as the skyline flashed by, illuminated by both the setting sun and the bright, dazzling colors of signs and advertisements scattered across the sides of buildings.

"Glad this guy we're looking for isn't in Nos Astra," Kay mentioned to Fynnis.

The turian snickered and shook his head. "Yeah. Not sure the port authority would be too inclined to let us dock after our last visit."

Before Will or Vayren could ask, the skycar entered a sharp turn and descent toward the entrance of the building that housed New Estrana's central immigration offices. After a graceful alignment with the entrance plaza's unloading ramp, the door of the skycar popped open and deposited the group in front of the building's main entrance. Will led them into the extravagant foyer and came to a stop as he took a long look around the multistory room.

"Fanciest government building I've ever been in," Will chuckled.

"Most of the 'governance' on Illium is private industry," Vayren informed him.

Fynnis nodded in affirmation. "Yep. And while the vibe of Nos Astra is all about fast, modern business, New Estrana draws from classic asari elegance." He paused for a brief moment. "Well, that and fast, modern business."

Will smirked and pointed toward the welcome desk. "Let's see what we can find out."

The four of them approached an asari woman working at her console behind the desk. She glanced up to them and presented a pleasant smile as she turned her attention from the computer.

"Good evening. May I help you?"

"I hope so," Will said with an honest smile. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. He arrived on Illium a month or two ago."

The asari pursed her lips. "Hmm, I see. Well, let's see what we can do." She looked back to her console. "What is the name?"

Will looked down at his omnitool to find the alias that Ralliston was using. "Uhh... Vallarus Septarian."

The attendant typed the name in and looked through the data that was returned. "And what did you want to know about him?"

"I need to know his registered address," Will answered.

"You're in luck," she told them. "His address is non-restricted information. That will be ninety-five credits, please."

Kay scoffed. "Are you kidding me? For public information?"

The asari smiled politely. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is not public information. It is simply not restricted and has a standard fee for access."

Will rolled his eyes and tapped a few commands into his omnitool. "Okay, it's transferring."

"Transaction approved," the asari informed them. "I will forward the information to your omnitool. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?"

"No, I think we're good," Will answered as he opened the message in his inbox.

"Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful evening."

Will turned and headed back toward the door with the others following beside or behind him. As they stepped outside, Kay stretched her back and let out a bored yawn.

"So where to now?"

"We visit Ralliston's apartment," Will answered. "And I try my best not to kill him."

* * *

The apartment high-rise that housed Ralliston's address was in an area of town that had clearly seen better days. It appeared as though the area of the city had once, many decades or centuries ago, been the home to much of New Estrana's heavy industry. But the factories had eventually become out-dated and sold off as corporations moved to newer, more high-tech facilities in the ever-expanding city. According to the research Fynnis had done as they arrived at the building, it had once been a housing unit exclusively for laborers in the area. Now it provided a place to live or hide for anyone with enough credits to pay a cheap monthly rate. Ralliston's apartment was on one of the lowest floors, and the group did not have much trouble marking their way into the building without a resident's ID.

"1209," Will reiterated as they followed the series of doors down a hallway.

"I see it," Vayren noted.

The came to a stop in front of a plain metal door. Will raised his hand and tapped the console beside it, sending a hail into the apartment. They waited for nearly a minute before Will pressed the button a second time, only to be met with the same result. He stepped to the side and held an arm out to the door offeringly.

"Fynnis, you wanna take this one?"

The turian stepped up with a shrug and set to work. "Doubt it'll take much to-"

The door pinged and slid open.

Fynnis chuckled lightly. "Yeah. Like I said."

Will peered into the apartment to see a small living area and kitchen with relatively barren walls, counters and tables. He stepped inside and looked around curiously. The sun had set during their flight over, leaving only soft ambient light from the highrises above to sneak into the window at the far side of the room. After another step the automated lights flickered to life and illuminated the room with a dull glow. Will motioned to a door on one wall and glanced back to Kay.

"Check that out?"

She nodded and headed toward the door. "Sure."

Fynnis and Vayren stepped inside behind them and shut the door as they all began examining the apartment looking for anything and nothing in particular. Will stepped past the kitchen and looked over a pair of heavy footlockers lined against a blank wall. He knelt beside one and opened it up, revealing nothing but a few pieces of maintenance equipment. The equipment in the second footlocker was also sparse, though Will identified a few tools that he exclusively used for working on guns.

"Nothing in the bedroom," Kay called.

"Nothing in these footlockers either," Will replied. "Wherever he is, he's got his weapons and armor equipped."

Then, something unusual caught Will's attention. He narrowed his eyes and reached into the weapon footlocker to retrieve what looked like a baseball-sized chunk of metal, partially warped and bent but clearly part of some kind of metal plating. One side was a painted light gray that had faded over some time, while the other was the dull silver tone of the metal's natural color.

Vayren knelt beside him. "What is it?"

Will shook his head lightly. "I... I think it might be part of the debris," he said quietly. "From the _Hyperion._" He closed his eyes and envisioned the ship in front of him."The color is exactly the same as he hull."

The salarian gave him a sideways glance. "Something to remember you and the crew by?"

"Maybe," Will admitted as he opened his eyes and set it back down.

"I don't see anything else in here," Fynnis informed them. "It looks like this guy leads a pretty utilitarian life."

Will shut the two footlockers and stood with Vayren at his side. "Yeah. I guess now we just wait for-"

Before he could finish the door pinged and slid open, surprising the four of them. They spun to face the opening door to see a large turian in Eclipse armor standing firmly in the doorway with his assault rifle aimed toward them. Will immediately recognized him. Ralliston.

"You should scope out your robberies better next time," the turian shouted. "Because there's nothing of value here! And learn how to crack a door without triggering the silent alarm next time."

As his eyes fell on Will, Ralliston froze in place without warning. The grip on the rifle in his hands slackened and the barrel of the gun dropped slightly as his mouth opened in silent shock.

"Hume?" He asked under his breath.

Will took a step toward him. "That's right. And I haven't shot you yet." He stared Ralliston down. "I'd say this is going about as well as it could have."


End file.
